We'll Be A Dream
by StarGirl512
Summary: OC Audrey and her best friend Mia end up finding their fates entwined with members of McFly.
1. All About You

I remember the day everything started, and for once I could see my happy ending falling into place.

It was on my 15th birthday that I got the tickets, and I was overwhelmed with shock.

A few days before that, my friend Mia and I were in her room. Both of us were Beatles fans and I was telling her about my favorite band McFly. She heard me rave about it all the time but doubted me. "I'm telling you Mia, they're an awesome band! They're the youngest band to have a debut album hit the top of the charts!" She looked at me. "Wait, no. The Beatles hold that record." She told me. "They _did_." I chuckled. Mia had been hesitant of this band since I started mentioning it. She was afraid they were like 1 Direction.

There wasn't too much wrong with them, but we found them to be overrated. McFly had been around before and they were so much better. Plus they actually knew how to play instruments, unlike 1 Direction.

I showed her the music video for 5 Colors in Her Hair, the boys helping out a girl who needed it. Sometimes I wished that girl could be me.

"do do do do do do

do do do do do do

do do do do do do

She's got a lip ring and

5 colors in her hair

not into fashion but I

love the clothes she wears."

I loved the raspy voice of Danny Jones. I had never found a voice to be so raspy it could be classified as _sexy_ before. Mia saw my expression and how I gazed at Danny with such affection in my eyes. Since we were best friends, we found it easy to see when we were hot for some guy. "So you're into the lead singer?" She asked me. "No, its not just that. They're so funny, and they're great at writing songs, and they just...inspire me." I said. "And they're coming to America on tour soon! I want to go so badly, but I'll never get the chance to. I don't know if they will ever come back on tour..."

After that, I hadn't know it but, Mia bought the tickets and gave them to my mom. She knew I came from a wealthy family but that my household didn't receive much. Mia's family had money too, but they taught her to treat everyone with kindness. It had been a long time since the family had last given me such a spoil, probably since I had started to be true to myself. My family was surprised when I opened my mothers birthday card and found concert tickets with backstage passes. To them it wasn't their idea of fun, but for me everything I had hoped for and then some. My mom would drive me and Mia to New Orleans where the concert would be and trust us to go by ourselves.

So a week after the party I packed my stuff and went with Mia and my mother. That was when mom admitted to me who was really responsible for this whole trip. I felt a little guilty at first when I thanked Mia, but she was humble about it. "Doesn't matter, just as long as you're happy, Audrey." The three of us had lots of fun the day before the concert, shopping in New Orleans and getting to eat the local cuisine. We went into a few antique shops for my mom. My mother loved the feel of nostalgia an antique store gave her. It reminded her of when she was younger and she had less to worry about. Sometimes I really worried I might turn into her... but that might not entirely be a bad thing

While Mia and I waited for mom we tried on the hats in the store. They reminded us of The Great Gatsby and the clothes a flapper would wear. "My grandma still talks about women wearing these," I said. Mia grabbed my arm. "Hey, look who's here." Outside the shop window there was a large bus trying to get through the traffic of the French Quarter. The bus was completely black, but on the side in an orange retro font was "McFLY".

"Ehmahgawd!" Mia and I both yelled. I quickly snapped a picture of the bus. The girls back home would never believe me... but then again they weren't really fans. The grouchy shop keeper looked like she wanted to kick us out. We left soon after that anyway. After we stepped out of the shop I looked around for the McFly bus, but it was no where in sight. My heart was pounding. "Wow... we were that close to them." I said. "We'll be way closer to them tomorrow night."

"Hot pink top and black shorts? or white on denim?" I asked Mia. We were in the bathroom getting ready. "Hot pink. What shoes?" She asked me. "Pink converse." She was picking out her outfit as well. "Okay, do you have your black socks?" She asked. "Yeah." I said. "You should wear those with it. I love how it makes your legs look long." I put them on. My mother always thought it was a strange, so I only wore them with Mia and my other friends. Mia did makeup for both me and her. She was a prodigy at it, and she made most of her looks seem natural. Just a bit of brown on my eyes and lip gloss for me, other than concealer I wasn't a person for makeup.

At 4 we left to get to the concert arena. It was summer vacation so the city had many people visiting. The concert hall was filled with fans so devoted they came from Montana and Ohio, even though the tour would reach an area close to them. The lights dimmed and fans began to scream. Who knew there were so many underground American McFly fans. After a few minutes a boy with dirty blond spiky hair and lots of bangs stepped on the stage with a base. He had a sightly scrawny build but still looked cute. This was Dougie Poynter, the youngest and most hilarious member of the band. He played base and back up vocals for McFly.

He approached the mic. "Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls of all ages may I have your attention please." I knew what Dougie was about to do. Across the stage a boy with platinum blond hair was playing on a piano, the sound like in a southern church. The boy on piano was Tom Fletcher, the lead vocalist and guitarist in the band. He was one of the founding members of McFly. "Because I am wearing my holey shorts today, it is time to get Casper on your asses!" He was actually wearing them(you are not a true fan unless you know what I'm talking about). "Can I get a 'out here'?"

"Out here!"

"Can I get a 'praise the lawde'?"

"Praise the lawde!"

"In the middle, 'OMG'."

"OMG!" We shouted from the middle.

"Okay, okay, okay, -" Dougie said and before he could finish Tom cut him off. "Okay Dougie, that's quite enough." But Tom was laughing too. "Let's get started already!" said a raspy voice excitedly. The voice belonged to Danny Jones and...well I've said quite a lot about him, haven't I? Danny had dark slick spiky hair and piercing blueish green eyes. Cutest freaking grin I've ever seen. Like Tom, Danny plays guitar and sings lead vocals. I watched as Harry walked onto the stage and waved as he went to his drum set. I couldn't believe my favorite band was standing in the same room as me. In. The. FLESH.

"Who's that?" Asks Mia. She motions her head to the back. "Harry? That's the drummer." I see the look on her face that only me as her best friend can recognize. "No." I say laughing. "Hahahah! Maybe me and you can go stalk them later." I said. "We're not going to stalk them!" She says blushing and wanting to giggle. "No, but we will go talk to them."


	2. That Girl

Hi there! To clear a few things up, in this fan fiction Audrey, Mia, the members of McFly and several other characters are all about 15 or 16. But songs from all of their albums will be mentioned. I know that might not make too much sense but just go with it. .

* * *

"Ehmahgawd, they really were great." Mia said two hours later when we walked out of the concert hall and into the foyer. "Now we get to go meet them!" I squealed with excitement. We were maneuvering through the crowd to get to the backstage entrance when Mia stopped me. "Do you want to grab a poster or something for them to sign?" She motioned to the merchandise table.

We ended up buying an 8x10 photo but it took a really long time since the line was long. I worried we wouldn't make the meet & greet. When the last girl left we looked at the security guard and asked for permission in. He looked at his watch. "You have ten minutes." It was good enough for me.

The instant I walked in, I met a scowl from across the room. It came from the face of a very beautiful girl, so beautiful she could pass for a model. The scowl ruined it for her though. She sat on a couch next to Tom, his arm wrapped around her. Then I remembered that was his girlfriend, Victoria Arkwright, and from the gossip columns I read online, her grandfather was the duke of Lancashire.

Man, she was giving both of us a nasty look and I didn't know why. Tom was the one to break the ice at which Victoria almost glared at him. Mia sat next to Harry and I with Dougie. Each of us got acquainted with each other and had the poster signed. As good of a time as I was having, there was only one thing missing. And it was Danny. I kept the conversation going with Dougie to keep things from getting awkward, and to avoid eye contact with Victoria.

Danny finally materialized into the meet & greet room. he sat at a couch on the other side of the room. Mia gave a look that said, "Go on, speak with your every desire." I didn't hesitate.

When I came over, he finally looked at me. From then on I had his undivided attention. He smiled and I melted. I sat next to him. "Hi, would you sign this?" I asked him. I wanted to say more but didn't know what. "Of course." He asked, "What's your name?" So I told him, "Audrey." He grinned, "Lovely name." I watched as he signed "To Audrey, ..."

"Where do you get inspiration from your music?" I suddenly asked. He looked up surprised at me. "Um, you know what, you don't have to answer that. It was pretty random of me." I was trying to just laugh it off, because who says these things? "No, that's okay. When we write a song it's usually off of life experiences." He said. "That's cool. There's really been a lot of things I've wanted to ask you." I said. "Okay, we can play 20 questions. I ask ten and you ask ten." He said. I nodded. "So what sort of things do you like to do?" He asked first. "Art, I love to draw. And to travel if I can."

A man that looked about as old as my mother came into the room. "Okay boys, time to wrap it up in here." Immediately after he said it, Danny, Dougie, and Harry said, "No!" really loud. The four of them were laughing including Tom. The man looked at me and Mia. "Alright lads just a bit longer." He walked out to help get the equipment put away. "That's our manager, Ralph." Danny was still giggling. "You seemed to let me go." I said smiling. "Maybe. Its your turn." I thought about it. "What career did you wanted to have when you were younger?" I asked him. "I wanted to be a police officer." He explained. I giggled at the adorable thought of a little boy wanting to do that.

* * *

The last question of our game was from Danny, "Can I have your phone number?"

"Oh. Sure." He let me write it down on a sheet of paper he had lying around. After my number I put "Call me! -Audrey Nightly." I dotted my i's with hearts just in case the message wasn't clear enough. We exchanged one last smile with each other and I left with Mia. Right before I exited the meet & greet room, I heard Victoria's voice behind me. "What is that?" She was pointing at my purse. Normally it would have been a cross body bag, but today I put the strap through the belt loops of my purse and tightened it for a better fit. It was another fashion quirk of mine like the thigh high socks. "It looks like a fanny pack." She said. "It's a belt-purse. Coach makes a ton of them. You should try it sometime." When people tease, all you have to do is appear confident. Act like you know what you're doing. And I did.

I stepped out of the room and behind me I could hear, "You just got BURNED." Mia and I laughed so loud at Dougie's comment that Victoria and the others could probably hear us.

"How did you private talk with Danny Boy go?" Mia asked as we entered the foyer again. The foyer was becoming empty as the fans left. "He asked for my number." I said. "What? You get 10 minutes alone with the guy and he gives you his number?" I rolled my eyes. "It happens. How did your meet and greet go?" I asked her. "Okay, Dougie's a total flirt but he's a good laugh too. Tom is nice but his girlfriend seems like a b*tch, and as for Harry...He seemed quiet but I think I cracked that shell of his."


	3. Brown Eyed Girl

**Since I am now 3 chapters into the story, I would greatly appreciate a review. Thanks for all the views. :D**

* * *

(Danny's POV)

Last night's concert had been quite interesting for Danny. At first he was annoyed with the meet & greet for several reasons.

First there was Victoria. She guarded Tom like an over protective mum, giving out glares to ward off fan girls. Danny didn't know what the hell Tom saw in her. But some fan girls were a problem themselves. He didn't mind meeting his fans, but some could be really frivolous. It made the idea of meeting them undesirable. Danny became so annoyed with it last night he escaped to the loo for almost a half hour. Ralph their manager was knocking on the door of the loo trying to get him to talk to the fans every few minutes.

After the half hour was over he figured he couldn't stay in there forever. He left for the meet & greet room to see that there were two more fans left. One sat next to Harry and the other with Dougie, Victoria glaring at them both. Danny sat down at the couch away from them since there wasn't much room left over there, except the seat next to Victoria but he would rather pass.

He was about to get his phone out to occupy himself with, but he noticed one of the girls was coming over to him. She looked like she was his age, with a waterfall of ebony hair down her back and dark shining eyes like obsidian.

This fan, he didn't mind.

* * *

(Back to Audrey's POV)

I woke up to my Iphone's ringtone of Star Girl, my favorite song. I wondered who would be calling this early since it was 7. The caller ID said it was an unknown number but that they were still in the area. I hit 'accept call'. "Hello?" I said.

"Hullo? Is this Audrey?" It was a raspy English voice. I sat up and opened my eyes. "Danny?" I asked. "Yeah it's me." Mia was starting to wake up next to me. "Good. I don't have another show until tonight. So we were wondering if you and Mia wanted to meet up with us and hang out until noon. I sat there with the phone in my hands for a minute not knowing what to say. "Hullo?" He asked again. "Hold on a minute." I said. "Mia, Mia wake up!" I whisper shouted. She sat up. "What is it?" She asked. I explained to her what was going on. "You're joking." She said. "Do you wanna go or not?" I asked.

We made arrangements to meet them at 9 in the lobby of the hotel we were at. We told my mother what plans we made, and because she was half asleep agreed. Mia and I hurried to get ready for the handsome boys who were waiting for us. I put on a white blouse, denim shorts and silver sandals and jewelry. Mia wore a lavender sundress with brown sandals and a necklace she made herself. After doing our hair and make up we grabbed our purses and went to the lobby.

We waited on the couch facing a TV. Many of the hotel's guests were getting breakfast in the dinning room. Since a football game was on we chatted and got on our phones. It wasn't long before a voice behind me said, "Hullo, Luve." I turned around and saw Danny smiling at me. "Did he just call me Love?" I thought. "Hey." I said. Coming in behind him were Harry, Dougie, Tom and... Victoria. "Know a good place to get some breakfast?" Mia and I looked at each other. "Well... there's Cafe Du Monde but its always packed. Maybe we can find a different place." As usual Du Monde didn't have a vacant table in sight. The cafe was famous for beignets, a french doughnut made from square pieces of dough. Mom always made them at home on Christmas morning. We found a different place with less people and more privacy. The boys enjoyed the meal of beignets and lattes. "You've got some powdered sugar on your mouth." I told Danny. He wiped the side of his mouth. "Did I get it?" He asked. Not at all. "Here, let me get it." I used a napkin to wipe it off the corner of his mouth.

"There." I said and folded the napkin back up. Dougie was looking at Danny from across the table. I realized that had been kinda weird. After we were done eating Danny asked if he wanted to go with me and hang out on our own. I guess the thing with the napkin hadn't been so bad to him. We went to Market street by ourselves while the others went to Jackson Square, which I heard was kinda like a park. There we went into shops again, not antique shops but thrift stores. "Do you live in New Orleans? You really know your way around here." Danny said trying on a pair of large sunglasses. "No, I'm from a town about an hour or two away from here. He snapped a picture of me trying on a fedora. I looked again in surprise. "Sorry, I kinda felt like taking one." He said.

We then took several pictures together. I had never felt very photogenic but with him it came easily. "Send them to me later, okay?" I told him. We began to stroll into another street, where a small crowd of people were dressed in formal wear. They were at a beautiful set of stone steps, and we watched as they all walked up. Many of the women wore matching teal dresses while one was in an elegant white gown. It was a wedding party coming to take pictures before they hurried to the reception. "Ever been in love, Audrey?" He asked as the newly weds exchanged a kiss. "I was once." I said. "Really. Do tell."

"The relationship started when I was 14, and ended a few months ago. We dated a year." I explained. It was still a touchy subject with me. "And then what happened?" I thought only a jerk would ask something like that but his expression was full of sincerity. I stopped walking. "Then the obvious happened." I said quietly. "Which of two obvious things?" He said. "He did it." I said. Desperate to change the subject before I started crying, I asked him, "What about you? Cupid ever bother you before?" He looked at the pavement. "I kinda was. Until she admitted to faking it for her amusement."

I looked up at him. I wondered whose circumstances were worse, mine or his. "I'm sorry. I know how it feels-" "We ought to quit talking about this. I really should't have brought it up." He took my hand and led me down the sidewalk. We were getting into a more urban part of the city, with street performers, folk art venders, and lots of voodoo. "You said you liked to draw didn't you?" He asked me. I took out a few pictures of my comics and manga I had drawn weeks ago. I really hadn't drawn much in a while. Since I got dumped I sorta lost my inspiration. "Damn." He said as he scrolled through my gallery album. I worried he thought it was bad. "These are great pictures, Audrey." He said. "Thanks." I said.

"I really enjoyed the concert last night." I said as I walked. "Yeah?" I nodded. "You know, you're a lot different from most of the fans I have met." Danny told me. "How?" I asked him. "A lot of American fans look at us with stereotypes just because we are British. They think we're good but that we have to sing with an accent too." He explained. "You're kidding." I said. "You must meet some ridiculous people on the road." He nodded. "Yeah. I'm happy I got to meet you last night."


	4. Met This Girl

My inspiration was definitely back, and my sketch book showed it.

I was able to draw again like never before. Flowers, Manga, real people, even landscape all at ease and I always found landscape difficult. Days passed faster as I drew, ate, slept, spent time with Mia and messaged Danny then repeated the process but it never felt like routine.

Since the few days I had met Danny and walked with him in the French Quarter we had texted, skyped, facetimed, and whatever means of communication we could. I found myself constantly checking my phone to see if a boy had messaged me. It was something I hadn't done since I had a boyfriend. One day when I was drawing a picture of Danny's favorite guitar he called me. A call was one thing we didn't do too often and that's when you know it meant something important.

"Hullo?" He asked in his accent.

"Hullo to you too." I said to mimic him.

"Nice to see it's you." He laughed.

"What brings you to the fan girl hotline?" I teased. Its weird how I had gone from fan girl to friend overnight. I really doubted it would get any farther than that but I was surprised how committed he was to our communication. "I was wondering if my favorite fan girl wanted to meet me at St. Mary Shore?" Okay, when he said that my doubt started fading. St. Mary Shore was the only beach in Louisiana that was actually _pretty_. When marsh from the bayou mixed with saltwater of the Gulf it made a very ugly mix. The Shore of St. Mary was the only nice looking beach with clearer water and a lot less pollution. Since the Shore also had an amusement park, aquarium and other fun stuff to do, one might even call that city romantic. It was like someone put a tiny Paris in a run down place like Louisiana but it still managed to thrive.

"Yeah, I think I might be able to. It sounds like a lot of fun." I told him. "Oh, and you should bring Mia too. Harry won't quit talking about her and-," Danny is cut off for a split second. "Ouch! But you have, you tosser!" Danny says. "Sorry, Harry just hit me."

I later contacted Mia so we could figure out how to get to and from. She had her licence but would have to borrow her mom's car, _if_ she was off.

* * *

We were given permission to go for the day by both our parents. I think my mom knew I was interested in him. Had it been any other guy, she wouldn't let me go. She would with Danny because she always encouraged me to find a British or Irish person so we had the same heritage and background. She can be weird like that.

At Mary's Shore we met them in front of the amusement park where they would be performing at. "Hey!" He greeted me in a hug. "Let's go around back. We'll show you where the stage is getting set up." He said. The three of us went to a gate that Ralph was waiting for him at. I could see the stage close by, and everything was set up waiting for them to play this afternoon.

Backstage, Dougie was running around. "What is he doing?" Maria asked. "They're playing hide and seek. It's pretty fun playing it backstage since there are tons of places to hide. "Help me find Tom and Harry." He told us. I found Victoria sitting on a couch reading a magazine, she apparently didn't care for playing. "Harry usually hides in the case that holds his drum set." Danny said. "I'm guessing you play this often?" Mia asked. "We can get rather bored sometimes. Never a dull moment though."

Dougie went over to a group of many large cases, big enough to hold several people. "It's pretty obvious. It's always open when they hide." He opened it up and Tom came out giggling. Mia stepped closer to the case, hoping to see Harry. He tripped and stumbled out of the case and looked up to see Mia standing there. She took a step back, "Hey there." He stood up and tried to look normal. "Ah, he's embarrassed." I thought. "Now there's no chance he will talk to her. But if anyone can get him to speak it's her."

After that we all decided to go around the amusement park and the aquarium. "Don't I have to pay for a pass?" I asked Danny. And with that he produced two from his pocket, one for me and one for Mia. "Thanks!" We said. We had a great time riding what we pleased. It was a very romantic place, especially on the Ferris wheel where you can see the whole city. I looked back and saw Mia and Harry in the seat behind us. Dougie sat between the two, so it lowered the chance of any hand holding or sharing affection. "Look, Dougie is being a cock-blocker and doesn't realize it." I whispered to Danny as the seat descended. He turned around and saw the three of them. "He's totally oblivious." Danny said to me.

* * *

After the tour of the aquarium and thrill rides, Danny and I wanted to go to the beach. I was wearing a black and blue bathing suit on under my outfit. "Beaches here aren't like the ones in England." He told me when we got there. "I mean, the water is nice but it's usually cloudy and cold. Here it's warm." We laid the towels out and sat. "You know, most beaches around here are usually pretty nasty." I explained to him. "Yeah I do. He said." I stood up to take my cover up off and put the clothes in my messenger bag. Danny simple took his shirt off since he had his trunks on. I now had nothing but a bikini. I saw my sketch book in my messenger bag and got the urge to draw. "Before we get in the water, I want to draw something." I told him. I took the sketchbook and a pencil and began to draw the seascape in front of me while Danny watched. It didn't take very long for this to be finished, and as I finished smudging a cloud's shading in with my thumb he told me, "This is incredible Audrey." I looked at him. "Honestly, you draw well, and paint well, Mia says you dance great too. What can't you do?" He asked. I thought for a moment taking it a bit too literally as I sometimes did. "I can't run very fast." I told him.

"Hmmm. That's not too bad." He looked back at the sea. I continued to shade the sunset in when he asked me another question. "Can you kiss well?"

My head came up for a second, blushing and red, but I didn't look at Danny. I hadn't been kissed or felt much heavy affection from a guy in months. "I dunno." I said turning to him, he had leaned in and his lips were inches from mine. "Wanna find out?"

It was times like these that I loved my brain. Somehow I stumbled like a klutz if I wasn't careful, but if an amazing guy was trying to give me a hint, I could take it and tell something smooth. Maybe I was hardwired for it. Of course, amazing guys like this one didn't give me the hint too often.

After that he took the invite and planted his soft lips on mine. They fit perfectly with mine, like we were two jigsaw pieces made for each other. After he took his mouth off, he commented, "Definitely." I smiled at him and put the sketchbook away. I went into the water hoping he would follow me. I sat in the water to a knee-height if I were standing. He ran behind me splashing a bit of water behind my back, then wrapped his comforting arms around my waist. I nearly jumped up if he hadn't been holding me down. I giggled as he kissed my cheek. As beautiful as the sunset was, and as comforting as his arms were, something was still bothering me. "Danny, will I ever see you again after today?" "Of course I will. I promise you." He assured me. I leaned back onto his chest.

The sad thing is, when people make promises to me, they always end up breaking them.


	5. Dancing Shoes

**StarGirl here! Just a few things!**

**I DO NOT OWN MCFLY, JUST MY LUCK, OR ANY SONGS MENTIONED IN THIS STORY, MCFLY SONG OR NOT.**

**Anyway, I'm sorry this chapter is kinda long. Thanks for the view guys! Write a review and tell me what you think! :)**

* * *

It was the week of homecoming and it felt like a full moon.

Students were getting very excited over making plans with each other for the weekend. Girls would exchange stories and photos about their dresses and hairstyles they had picked while boys freaked out over getting a date. Brave people like me dressed up for spirit days, and those that were mainstream stayed in uniform. Senior pranks ruined yards and threatened to cancel the dance. Most kids talked about how they were going to the game to socialize with one another, but for me I was going to the airport to pickup my boyfriend, and really I didn't mind. Technically it would be all four of the boys coming over to enjoy our dance.

Speaking of which, most people didn't believe me when I told them my boyfriend was from Bolton, England. A good example was my last hour class before school let out. My art teacher wasn't making us do much, so we all sat around on our phones talking about our plans for the weekend. Stacy Broux was one of the preppiest girls in my class, who sat behind me in art. Her mother owns Broux boutiques, a chain of tacky clothing shops, so she really thinks she's hot stuff. Mia and I shared a table together and always talked during class. "So we're picking up Danny and the others later today. Do you want to come with me to see Harry?" I asked her. "I can't. I have a shift at the game's concession stand later because of choir." Mia explained.

"Talking about your imaginary boyfriend again?" Stacy asked. "He's not imaginary." I told her for the 100th time. "Keep telling yourself that and we'll have to put you in the special ed class." She crooned. "He's as real as your dick!" I thought, but I didn't say it. "Here's a picture of us together." I told her. It was the one we took in the French Quarter. She only put me down because she didn't want people to know I dated a famous foreign person. Stacy overheard me and Mia talking about the band in class one time. I hadn't really told anyone about his fame. Even if I wanted to flaunt it, no one would believe me.

The bell rang and Mia and I went down separate hallways. I went to my locker and opened it, revealing pictures of me, Danny, Mia, and the boys all over. I put my books away and looked at a picture of Danny. "Just a few more hours, babe." I thought to myself. I glanced at a picture of us at St. Mary's Shore, the place of our first kiss a few weeks ago. I hadn't realized it, but after the kiss I smiled like crazy. He had smiled too.

I felt a pair of arms wrap around me and a voice in my ear say, "Hullo, Luve." I slammed the locker shut so he wouldn't see I had been staring at his photo. "Danny!" I said a little loudly. Although the hallway itself was way louder several people turned to look at me and Danny. I turned around and hugged him back. "I didn't know you were coming early. How did you find me?" I asked him. "Mia told me where your locker was so I could surprise you." I giggled. "How thoughtful of you. Come on, lets get out of here." I grabbed his hand and led him to the courtyard. "We have to go to the parking lot, I can't remember how to get back there." He explained. I figured my mother and her car were waiting for us there, but it was really a red convertible with the hood down, and inside were Harry, Tom and Dougie. Harry in the drivers, Tom in the front seat and Dougie in the back. Girls whispered as they passed the only three boys in school who weren't in uniform. "Where did the car come from?" I asked Danny. "Rentals." He said with a grin.

Me and Danny hopped in the back next to Dougie. "Honestly, how do you people wear pants? It's hotter than bloody hell here!" Dougie asked me. The air was still warm for early October, as it always was here. "It's not the air that's warm mate, it's the girls." Danny told him. With that he kissed me for the fist time that weekend. Tom let out a teasing whistle. Danny put his arm around me as we drove off.

* * *

The five of us decided to go to the homecoming game together. "This is nothing compared to real football." Danny said referring to soccer. We sat high up in the stands where we could find a free spot for all of us. Tom, Dougie, and Harry decided to go get food at the concession stand. I looked down and saw that Stacy was with the cheerleaders. I heard she didn't make the team last year and was slacking behind. And the only reason she was in uniform tonight was because she hadn't made the court this year. She stared up at me and my "imaginary" boyfriend. I then looked at the people going to and from the stands and bathrooms to see if I knew anyone, but it was a ton of parents. That's when I spotted two people I have been trying to avoid for months. "Him again." I muttered. "Who again?" Danny asked. He held me in his arms again and could hear whatever I said. He followed my line of vision to see who I was looking at. "That's _him_." I said.

"Your ex?" I nodded. "I'm just shocked because this is the last place I would find him. Even with her." I told Danny. "It's a school game. And everyone seems to go even if they don't like it." He said. "No, that's not it. He hates American football. He didn't do a lot of things last year even though I wanted to. He didn't take me to homecoming, football game or dance. And Spencer knew how badly I wanted to go to the dance. I stayed home since I was too ashamed to come without my boyfriend. But he's going tomorrow night with Heather. I know because Monday you wear a shirt with your date's name on it. She even got him to wear the shirt." I looked at him. "That's their names. And that's why I'm mad at him. That and...He left me for her." I finally admitted. Mia was the only person other than me that knew this. I didn't tell anyone what happened other than her.

"That's totally lousy of him. The prat. But it's okay. I promise you tomorrow night will be fun." I smiled at him as his hold on me tightened. "I know it will." I pecked his cheek.

* * *

Mean while, the boys went to the concession stand. As they wove through the crowd, Dougie said. "Being home schooled can be quiet but I come here and feel all better." "Yeah." Harry and Tom said. A group of class clowns covered in yellow face paint walked by with swagger thinking they owned the stadium. One guy took off his jacket to reveal his back was bare with "Go Hornets! Sting 'em!" in paint. "People here are crazy!" Tom whispered to them. "Except Audrey. She's pretty cool." "_So is Mia_." Harry thought. He looked up at the stands trying to find her in crowds of cheering students. "_She would be with Audrey. I guess she isn't here tonight_." He thought.

The concession stand line was long, but at the front they met a familiar person. "Hey! It's Mia!" Dougie said. "Mia?" Harry said louder than he meant. "Hey." She said softly to him in particular. "Are Audrey and Danny with you?" He nodded. "They're sitting in the bleachers." Harry gazed at her eyes with gold glittery eye shadow to show school spirit. She also wore a choir club t-shirt. The gold complimented her light brown eyes. "So what can I get you?" She asked behind the counter. "Um." He hadn't thought much about food on the way here. "Three chocolate bars, some nachos, two bags of skittles, a bag of M&M's, and," Dougie counted in his head. "At least 5 sodas." Dougie said. "What?" Mia said overwhelmed.

* * *

The boys came back with a ton of snacks. "I love American food!" Dougie said handing us sodas. "Can we go to McDonald's tomorrow?" He asked. I nodded. "So who are we up against?" Harry asked. "Big Cave High's Bears." I told him. We had been in rivalry with that school before homecoming even came about. The school board always put us against them during homecoming to get school spirit up which never worked. "We pretty much accepted the fact that we're gonna loose. The size of their guys this year is crazy." I watched as one of my classmates was tackled down on the field by a Big Cave student.

That night we won by some miracle. Students seemed really happy about it too. When people started to leave the stadium a group of three students started to sing the school's fight song. "Cheer, Cheer for old Height's High!" More people began to join in.

"The stripes of gold will never die!

So fight, fight, fight, with all your might!

Those stinging hornets will never die!"

The band members began playing along with it. I knew the song and started singing too, and the song grew louder. Our school's fight song was a rip of Notre Dame's. The cheerleaders looked at the crowd with disbelief. "Hurry up and get in the victory pyramid!" I heard Stacy shout to the squad.

"We never stagger, we never fall,

the stinging hornets will win over all!

All ye sons of H-H-S go marching

to Vic. Tor. RYYYYY!"

* * *

Tomorrow morning the boys picked me up and we all went over to Mia's house. She already had her music cranked up when we walked in. Her mom asked that we go in the den so there wouldn't be so many boys in her room. Mia's parents were old fashioned like mine. There was plenty of room in the den for dancing. We had been practicing dancing in heels for years. I remember taking her moms when we were in 7th grade. Many of our Friday nights were spent making up dance routines for the latest songs. Mia and I did our routine to "Blurred Lines," for the boys to see. We received a nice applaud from them. Since it was on shuffle, the next song was "The Whip," by Locksley. "Woah-oh-oh, oh oh oh oh." Mia and I began singing. We started dancing our routine we made for the first verse.

I smiled at Danny and brought him to the floor as we turned and danced. "They better play good music tonight." I said. "Since when have they _ever _played good music at Homecoming?" Mia said too me. "Never." I said with an eye roll. "But a girl can dream.'

* * *

Later that night I was in a beautiful dress, putting on a pair of earrings. The dress was scarlet red, and it's hem was mid-thigh. A layer of black tool covered most of the dress, and fell in the back making it a high-low hem. the tool gathered at my right hip by a large cluster of rhinestones, giving the dress some glitz. My hair was down as always, but curled. Makeup noticeable, but a natural look. Tonight was a night I had been looking forward to since I learned to dance. The feeling of putting on a beautiful dress and feeling like a princess.

The doorbell rang, and my mother got the door. Danny, Tom, Dougie, and Harry walked in. Danny was wearing red converse and tie, a black dress shirt and slacks. The outfit reminded me of Billy Joe Armstrong, but to me he looked like my Prince Charming. "You look lovely." He said to me. I slipped his corsage onto his sleeve. "Thank you. You look great." I looked up at him and smiled. Behind him were Tom, Harry, and Dougie in formal wear similar to Danny's. And behind me were my kill joy aunt and uncle wondering why there were three boys other than my date in the house and why all of them had spiky hair and British accents.

My aunt and uncle were really there to take photos. "This is Danny, the guy I told you about." I said to them. Though this wasn't a bad first impression, they looked at him like dog meat. "And this is my Aunt Sophie and Uncle Mike." I said to Danny. Despite their hard glares, he gave them a kind smile and extended his hand to Uncle Mike. "Nice to meet you." The gesture surprised him, as my sister's boyfriends never did such things. She dated idiots. I introduced Tom, Harry and Dougie who - thank god - we're not acting silly or reckless at the time. This was the side of my family that didn't stand for nonsense. Nonsense like me. The nonsense that wore thigh high socks and invented belt purses and dated a band member.

After the photos I decided to get out of the house as soon as we could. Sophie and Mike always knew how to make things awkward. We picked Mia up at her house. She wore a purple dress with blue and green details and plenty of rhinestones. Her hair was in an up do with a headband that had a peacock feather. Mia was a girl for purple, I was one for red. She looked gorgeous. "You look beautiful Mia!" I told her. She got in the car. It was kinda packed at this point. She was wedged between me and Harry. "Thank you! You're so pretty in that dress, Audrey!"

* * *

At the doors to the dance I presented our tickets. The ticket lady looked at me funny. "_I do not have four dates_!" I thought. My school was kinda paranoid on people from other schools coming to our dances, because of this Mia took Harry's hand to let them think he was her date. The lady was suspicious but let us in. Down the main hall to the auditorium, students stood with each other in formal wear. People around me were asking each other. "Who are they?" "Do they go to this school?" "That's Mia and Audrey, don't know who they're with..."

Before I could quite reach the doors, Stacy stopped me. She was wearing a black and yellow stripped dress, it was so short that it would have made Ke$ha jealous. Her corsage didn't really have any flowers, just a bunch of rhinestones in the shape of an S for her initial. Stacy probably got her entire outfit at her mom's tacky shop. The Yellow and Black stripes told me she was trying to pose as Queen Bee at this school. "Hey there Audrey, cute dress you got there." She was trying to pull something on me. "And who is this?" She inched closer to Danny. As soon as he took a step back, she put her arm in his, much like I did earlier but way more clingy. "_Oh Hell no_." I thought. "_This shit isn't going to fly._"

"I'm Stacy. You want to dance later?" I was so embarrassed she would do this in front of the boys, my best friend, my peers, and more importantly to my boyfriend. "Stacy, don't act like my friend because we aren't anymore. Take your hands off my boyfriend and quit being so jealous." This was causing a scene and I could see some chaperons approaching. With that, she let go of Danny, her expression like a puppy dogs. I understood she had felt left out of everything lately. Cheerleading, homecoming court, getting a date. It truly made me feel sorry for her, but that was no excuse to be annoying and bothersome to other people. She began to back off. Danny let me take his arm and escorted me into the gym. Mia and the boys were following behind us.

Almost all of the girls in the crowd wore blue dresses. At our school it was a stereotype, and I personally found the lack of variety annoying. There were a few in gold or yellow like Stacy, because they were on the cheer squad. Mia and I were one of those people that always stood out at the dances in red or purple. We were complimented on our daring ensembles, I was once told a girl didn't recognize me until later. "This music!" Dougie said almost covering his ears and cringing. "It's horribe," Tom said. I agreed. It was too loud and the base was too high. The song finally ended and a decent line dance started. Mia and I started dancing in our heels, it was the line dance but with a few turns and steps added to make it our own. Harry caught on and began dancing with us, but in a pretty masculine way. "Holy crap." I said I kept dancing. Mia noticed and they began dancing together. She was probably more surprised than me. "He won Strictly Come Dancing, the guy knows a lot more about dancing than you would expect." Danny was standing next to me. Harry was taking the dancing to his advantage with Mia. Tom was on the other side of me while Dougie flirted with a bunch of girls. I had stopped dancing by now. The dance went by slowly, with a routine of dub step songs and line dances. "None of the songs we made routines to." Mia said. "I'll be right back." Danny said.

* * *

Danny went to the DJ booth, past the speakers that threatened to blow his eardrums out. He pulled out a junk drive from his pocket. "Hey, I need you to play both songs on here." He told him. "Sorry, I can only play what's on the computer." The DJ said. "Look, it's for a girl okay? Can you at least do it for her? Everyone is going to like it a lot better." Danny told him. "I can't. Or this school isn't going to let me DJ anymore." Danny rolled his eyes and pulled out his wallet. "I've got enough experience being a DJ to know. Will giving you a Lincoln help? Or...wait, is this guy Washington?" He looked at the bill for a minute. "Whatever. Just take the bloody money and play the music for my girlfriend next okay?" The DJ took the money and the junk drive.

* * *

Danny disappeared for a few minutes. It gave me time to talk to some other friends of mine from class. When he came back, the song changed again. It started out with a music box tune, then changed to a guitar and drums. "This song." I smiled at him. "May I have this dance?" He asked me. "Yes." I said. "Do you remember the nights we stayed up just laughing, smiling for hours, at anything. Remember the nights we drove around crazy in love." The song played. He took me to the dance floor, put one hand on my waist and clasped my hand it the other. I put my hand on his shoulder as we started turning. "I don't really know how to waltz Danny." I told him. "Is it much different from regular dancing?"

He stepped slowly. "Only a little. Just keep following my lead, Luve." I picked up on it easily. "I hope you like this. I had it requested for you." How did he know this was a song I've always wanted to dance to? "Where did you learn how to do this dance?" I asked him. "Me mum put me in etiquette classes. I learned a few things there." So that's where he got his charm. "Yeah. Speaking of that, Audrey, you aren't alone. That girl I told you about who toyed with me. I met her at the etiquette class, she was my assigned dance partner and everything. I was into her, thought she liked me back, but she was just tricking me into seeing if she could break my heart. When it comes to having a damaged heart, you aren't alone. I'm here for you." "_He's keeping his promise!_" I thought, and I felt so happy. Both the one he made with me on the beach, and last night. "_Someone finally keeps their promise with me!_" "Thank you, Danny." He pulled himself closer to me. Our clasped arms fell to our side but still stayed together.

A few more couples were dancing around us now. I was close enough to his ear to say something. "I love you." I told him. I felt him squeeze my clasped hand harder. I hadn't heard those words leave my mouth in a long time. Not since I was with Spencer. I hadn't even said it to my mom lately... "I love you too." He whispered back in my ear. I smiled again while my head was on his shoulder. Who did I see right then and there in the crowd over Danny's shoulder but Heather with Spencer. Heather had a plain blue dress on. "_Typical prep. She's so drab._" Spencer's mouth was gaping open at me, and I was still smiling. I put my head on Danny's chest. "_As if I would smile for you_." I thought. We danced longer, until the song ended. I gave him a peck on the mouth. "That was amazing." I told him. The next song was another one we knew. "MIA!" I shouted over the music. She rushed over to me in our heels. We immediately started to dance more as "The Whip," began to play. The students crowded around us and they even cheered us on. "They love it!" She said. We kept going with our freestyle, each move perfect for the song. When a ring formed around students, teachers got concerned because 99% of the time a circle formed because of a fight. A dance being viewed was the last thing they expected.

When the second verse started, Danny and Harry came to dance with us. "How did you know about the other song?" I asked him. "I asked Mia how I could make it the best homecoming I could for you. She gave me the song because you said it was your favorite slow song." I could see the envy on every girls face as we danced with our partners, and the regret of every boy for not knowing how to dance. I never understood why boys didn't like to dance much. I always considered it a sexy quality. Dancing was a chance to hold a woman in such an intimate embrace only reserved for relationships. Dougie and Tom were dancing by themselves but still having a good time. They also had their neck ties around their foreheads, wearing them like party animals. I couldn't help but laugh. "Woah oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, ah oh," The song ended with me and Danny in a lean. The auditorium went into total applaud.


	6. Deck The Halls

**Hey! StarGirl here! Thanks for the views and Merry Christmas! I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday. Enjoy the new chapter.**

* * *

Mia and Harry were now sort-of dating. It started at homecoming when they were dancing. Mia had been surprised by his mad dancing skills and later explained to her how he won a celebrity dance contest a few years ago. "I know you've been given so many compliments on how you look tonight Mia, but you don't even need a dress to look beautiful to me." As if they weren't crazy about each other enough. They communicated with each other a lot more, but they hadn't confirmed their relationship yet.

The day after I got out of Christmas break, my mother and I went to pick Danny up from the airport. It was the first time I saw him without it being a total surprise. Most of our in-person meeting always included a surprise. Him coming earlier than I expected or those times he asked for dates on the last minute. I actually loved the surprises, its one of the things I liked about him. But sometimes a heads up is what a woman needs so she can fix her freaking hair.

I was excited to see him. "Hullo, Luve." That greeting never got old. It had been a while since I had seen his dark spiky hair, piercing blue-green eyes, and his smile toward me. After an exhausting week of mid-term exams it was refreshing to see him. "I missed you." I told him as we hugged. "I missed you too." He told me.

* * *

I had to take Danny to see my different family members the next day. It was something my mother encouraged us to do and I really didn't want him to meet some of them. Most of my family members were all crazy each in their own special way...

The first house was the worst, my Aunt Sophie and Uncle Mike's. We drove over to their house by ourselves where they and their two kids were. Their son, Samuel, and daughter, Olivia, were both in their early 30's. I'm not sure which one of them annoyed me more. Samuel was disgusting and rude. Didn't know how to hold flatulence in to save his life. As for Olivia, she was a quite opposite, being a total bimbo. To her and her parents being only a little pretty was never enough and they had put that pressure on me a few years ago.

"You remember Danny, right?" I asked my uncle. "Yeah. Good to see you again, David." I rolled my eyes. He 'mistaked,' his name like he had done with my sister's past boyfriends. "It's Danny. And it's nice to see you too." Danny just tried to be a good sport. Man, he didn't deserve this. We went into the living room to visit with Samuel and Olivia. They were on one of the sofas so we sat across them. "Danny, these are my cousins." I said.

"Isn't he the one in the band?" Samuel said. Danny nodded. "Yeah, we're starting to plan our tour for next summer." He explained. "Where are you touring?" Uncle Mike asked. "It's a world tour." The family members looked at one another. "That's... very nice." Olivia said almost stunned. The half hour full of chatter still felt like an awkward silence. "You know, Daniel, if you need a haircut, Olivia is an experienced hairstylist." Aunt Sophie said to him. My aunt didn't try at all to hide her grin, nor did her husband or children. I wanted to yell at her for practically teasing his hair. He squeezed my hand next to me. "His hair looks fine," I said running a hand through his dark silky locks. "So a haircut wont be necessary."

"Are you sure of that? You're dating a porcupine." Uncle Mike told me. I didn't think it was possible for the awkward silence to get any more quiet than that, but I heard the decibels drop.

"Danny, we're leaving." I picked up my jacket. "Come on." Danny wasn't offended, just sad that we couldn't get along. I let him go ahead of me to start up the car. "Honestly, what is the matter with you people?" I walked out of there mortified. "I'm so sorry, babe." I told him in the car. I knew they would do something rude but they took it too far. I would rather go at it with Stacy again. "I mean, I know they can be rude but I didn't expect them to be that harsh."

* * *

We drove to my grandmother's house. She appreciated us together more than Sophie and Mike did. I remember her face lighting up when she met them. It was almost the same way she looked at a young child, but not immature. His manners and genteel are what she saw in him. It wasn't exactly something he showed on stage or in his music, but once you really got to know him this is how he was. "You know Daniel, you sound Irish." She said to him. "My mum's side is." I don't know if her face could light up more. "Both of my parents immigrated here in the during the famine. They met on the boat to America and latter married." My grandmother never shied away from telling me or my cousins a story like this, one about where the family came from and started. I always enjoyed hearing them, my cousins thought otherwise.

I noticed that my grandmother also spoke to Danny a though he was a family member. I suppose she viewed him as one in the future.

The next person we visited was my godfather, Uncle Richard. He never brought a child into the world, nor did he ever marry. He cared about my sister and me very much and looked at us as his own children. We entered his house full of antiques. Like my mother he greatly enjoyed the feeling of nostalgia. Throughout the visit the conversations weren't too strong since Uncle Rich was quiet. Despite the silence, he was accepting of me and Danny. As we drank the hot chocolate he made for us our conversations grew stronger. Danny even made Uncle Richard laugh at one point. He left a good impression on him at least.

* * *

Later on we were both at my home putting up Christmas decorations. Mom was at the grocery store getting food for dinner. "Basically, my grandmother and Uncle Richard like you, especially my grandmother, but Sohpie and Mike are being close minded." I said to him while putting up an ornament. "I have a feeling things will work out with them soon." He told me. "Can you put the angel on top of the three? You're taller." I asked him. He took the angel and put it on top but struggled to find the chord to plug it into. "I just don't get it though. For some reason they and a lot of other people don't think that young love is real." Danny looked over at me. "I mean, They think that just because I'm under 18 and that I'm a teenager that I have no ability to love. To them it's just "puppy love," even though I hate that term. And what also confuses me is that Sophie and Mike got married right after high school. I wish they could see how they're hypocrites." I said. "I don't know why people don't believe in it either. If you have the right person in your life, then it's never a terrible thing. You just can't get married too young anymore." I looked around in the box more. "Well, I know that. I don't want to get married straight out of high school."

"I think that when two young people are actually in love, people these days just find it intimidating." He had the angel plugged in now. The candles the angel held were now lit up. "Young love or just love in general can only come to those of us who truly want it. It's just rare that two people like us cross paths and become a happy couple and others find it shocking." I looked back in the box. "I guess you're right." I found the last object in the box. It was a mistletoe with a bell. I never understood why but my mother just had to buy it, and it's not like we always had boyfriends for Christmas. "So, we just ignore the haters and make each other happy." I said it more as a statement than as a question. He nodded at me with a smile. "It would make me happy if you would hang this over the doorway for me." I motioned to the doorway between the kitchen and living room. Danny looked like he was about to laugh. "Gladly." He took the mistletoe and hung it with a hook over the doorway.

After hanging it I joined him under the doorway, wrapping my arms around his neck. The gap between our mouths got smaller and smaller until both of our lips were together. The taste of hot chocolate was still in his mouth but the kiss was still great.

* * *

"I have a gift for you." I told him later. I had some help from Mia, spent countless hours on Etsy, and gotten the parts for it at a local craft shop. I produced the small box from behind my back for him. "Oh, I didn't know we were exchanging them now." He said to me. "Let me go get yours." He went to his bag. "You didn't need to get me anything!" I said. "Neither did you!" He told me. His box was a little bigger than mine and wrapped. "You first." I handed him my present.

"No you." He giggled.

"No you, I brought mine out first!"

"Okay, okay."

His gift was a bracelet I saw on Etsy then recreated myself out of some jewelry making parts at the craft shop. "Wow." He said. It had a black adjustable chord with a silver charm that looked like a Celtic knot in the middle. For a piece of jewelry it was pretty masculine. He tried it on. "It fits pretty well. Thank you, Love." He said. "I'm glad you like it. I made it myself." I explained. "I kinda made your gift too." He handed the parcel to me, the bracelet still on his wrist. I opened the box and inside was a maroon sweater. The sweater said in yellow print "Gryffindor Qudditch Team," with a qudditch logo on it. "You got me a qudditch shirt?" I asked. I looked up at him and could feel my grin getting bigger. "Actually its, a jersey. Look at the back." I turned it over. "Nightly 7 Seeker." It said. "I had it custom made at a shirt printing shop Harry used to work at. Do you like it?" He asked. "Oh my gosh, it's perfect." I told him. I can't believed he remembered what my favorite fandom was. The gift was very thoughtful of him. "Why don't you try it on. I want to see if I got the right size." I put the sweater on over my t-shirt. It fit a little loosely but it was supposed to be like that. "It's great, Danny. Thank you." I gave him a kiss. "Merry Christmas."

"Yeah. Happy Christmas." He said. "Wait, what?" I asked him. "Happy Christmas." I snorted. "I almost forgot British people said that." I said wrapping my arms around him. "Only sometimes." He said. "Okay then. Happy Christmas Danny."

* * *

**I decided to make some head cannons for you guys! More to come!**

**Head cannon #1:**

**Harry used to work at a t-shirt printing shop before he got his first gig with Busted to buy his drum set and equipment.**

**Head cannon#2:**

**Characters like Audrey's mom and Uncle Richard have feelings of nostalgia and collect antiques because they regret certain decisions from the past and are still having difficulty getting over it.**


	7. She Falls Asleep

**Okay, If you have no idea what the story of The Nutcracker is, I suggest that you Google it right now other wise this chapter is going to seriously confuse you.**

**I DON'T OWN ANYTHING**

**Thanks for the views! Don't forget to comment, review, or favorite!**

* * *

Another awkward Christmas Eve in my family had finally came and went. That was how my family usually was during Christmas, There was a ton of family chaos like you saw in Home Alone or something but without all the kids. I was the last kid left in the family, all of my cousins were in their 20's or 30's but I had no kids or teenagers to talk to at these family gatherings. It made pretty dull holidays.

It was nice to be given presents and to give them out but I would trade it all to have a decent holiday with my family for once. See all of them actually happy with themselves. I went to bed that night with thoughts of Danny in my head. I put on the qudditch shirt he got me. Having something special a person gave you was almost like having them close by. He was probably having a good time celebrating with his family and the boys right now. Picturing his smile made me happy as I drifted off to sleep...

* * *

In my dream I was at the Christmas Eve party again. I was surrounded with my family, but then again not. It was them alright, but a different version of them. They were all happy and smiling, and some of them looked younger too. They were all dancing and being lively. I even saw a bunch of children and teenagers that looked similar to me. "_Look, its all my cousins_!" I thought. The dream was starting to become a reality to me. The children were all paying games and sharing their new toys with each other. A group of female cousins approached me that were my age. When they each gave me a hug I noticed that they looked like me. "_Oh, there they are. They're like sisters to me_." We all began to chat up a storm. At the time, I didn't have a clue that all these people were fake and that most of these cousins weren't even real. "I love your dress!" One of them said. She looked like Mia. Looking back on it, it would be nice if she and I were related, we felt like sisters enough. I looked down and found I was wearing a dress with maroon fabric and gold detail. My shoes were gold ballet flats. It was as though my qudditch sweater had been transformed into a beautiful dress.

Uncle Richard entered the house and I went to greet him. He looked younger, healthier, and happier. "Merry Christmas!" I said to him. Across the room I saw Aunt Sohpie and Uncle Mike exchange a kiss. I _never_ saw them do that in my entire life. "_Why is this starting to feel strange to me_?" I let the thought go. I just had to enjoy the night. "For you." Uncle Richard said. He handed me a plushie of a boy. "I crafted it myself." He said to me. The plushie was a boy with dark silky hair and piercing blue-green eyes. If they were any shinier, he would have to make the eyes from emeralds. The plushie boy wore a suit of armor with a shield and sword made from felt. He was my little knight in shinning armor. I thanked him for the doll. "_Aren't I too old for dolls_?" I thought. None of the family was scolding or teasing me for it. "_Too old for dolls? Yeah right_!"

I showed the other girls my gift. No one was jealous or mad that I got such a nice present. And for some reason it was another thing about the party I found peculiar. I took another look at the doll. It felt like...it was made after a person I knew. Before I could let it bother me too much I watched as Uncle Richard performed small magic tricks for the children and adults. He took a small break and brought out a few more dolls and placed them on the dinning table. These dolls were different from the one he gave me. They weren't plushies, they were made from metal, and worked like wind up toys. He turned the key of all four dolls and they began to dance around on the table. I had never seen such an interesting display before.

The next thing I knew the party was over and it was time for me to sleep. Everyone but the plushie and mechanical toys had suddenly disappeared. I layed down on the couch and curled up. I found it difficult to sleep at the time. After what felt like a few hours of trying to sleep I heard some squeaking noise. I looked over at the mechanical dolls to see if they started dancing again, but they all stayed still. I checked the sink to see if it was dripping, but the tap was off. When I went back to the living room I found the source of the noise on the floor. "Rat!" I almost screamed. I stood on the couch and waited for it too leave since I had nothing to kill or contain it in. I looked down at the rat, it was one of the ugliest rats I had ever seen. Way worse than a real rat. The clock on the wall rang because it was midnight. When the ringing started, the rat grew, and the furniture began to shrink. "_Okay, I'm starting to think this is a dream_." In most dreams I was usually aware of the fact that it was a dream, but until now I was oblivious. I watched as the couch I was standing on became as big as a house. I turned to the Christmas tree, which was getting bigger and bigger by the minute. "_This is reminding me of some story_."

When everything stopped changing in size, the tree was as large as a monument, and I was so small I could drown in a glass of water. I felt something hit the back of my head and since I was on the edge of the couch cushion, fell off. Landing on the ground wasn't hard since the carpet was soft. The object that hit me fell next to me. "A Christmas candy?" I looked up and saw the rat, the horrible rat with...multiple heads? No wonder it looked so ugly before. On top of the heads were a crown. I remembered what this story was now. I was in the Nutcracker, but this dream turned nightmare felt too real. The faces of these heads were quite familiar. Mike, Sophie, Samuel, Olivia, Stacy, Spencer, Heather, and Kate; the people who got in the way of my dreams were the Mouse King. The heads laughed as they pulled out a sword.

Before I was stabbed a knight in shining armor lifted his shield and blocked the attack. I looked over to where my plushie doll sat but it was gone. The knight turned to help me up. He had the same dark silky hair and piercing blue-green eyes. "Danny!" I said. "Run!" He shouted to me. We both took cover under the Christmas tree before getting hit by another candy. On the coffee table and shelves mice were shooting candy out of toy cannons and reloading from candy dishes. The living room started swarming with mice soldiers and began to march toward us. "Is there too many for you to fight off?" I asked Danny. He stepped forward with his sword ready. "Start climbing the branches." He said. I didn't want to leave him there but the mice were ready to attack us.

I heard another cannon shot, and this time a mouse soldier was hit. On the mantle of the fireplace were three toy soldiers with a toy cannon. They were Dougie, Tom, and Harry in toy soldier uniform. I started climbing up the first branch. I was still close by but hiding in the tree. While Danny started to battle the Mouse King one-on-one, Harry, Dougie, an Tom started firing the candy cannon at the mouse army. "Happy Christmas, you sneaky little f*cks!" Dougie yelled at them. The tree started shaking and I noticed that some rats were cutting the tree down! I clung to an ornament to keep myself from falling. This gave me the idea to start dropping ornaments on the mice. It was a little difficult to push off considering my new height but they managed to fall on each of the mouses' heads and shatter, leaving them knocked out.

I climb down the tree now that it's safe. There are more toy soldiers other than the three on the mantle. The living room is the battle field for a war between toys and mice. The mechanical dolls that danced at the party are bringing in more cannons. The mechanical dolls danced around the mice, dodging and avoiding every attack with a quick move. Now I was on the ground, and watched while my knight in shinning armor got weaker as the heads of the Mouse King all laughed. Instinctively, I took off one of my gold ballet slippers and threw it at the back of the Mouse King's head. "Don't you dare hurt him!" I said. The Mouse King turned to me and each of his heads gave me a nasty glare. It was the glare Stacy gave me in the hallways at school, the look Aunt Sophie and Uncle Mike gave me when I introduced Danny and the rest of the "Rat Pack," as Mike called it. And now that I thought about it, there was so much irony in that.

Danny took the chance while the Mouse King wasn't looking and stabbed him with his sword. As the Mouse King finally died he faded until he was no longer existing. The two armies quit fighting to witness the death of a leader. The rats began to retreat, leaving the living room until all that remained were us, the mechanical dolls, and the toy soldiers. The clock struck again and it was 1:00 o'clock. On the top of the clock stood Uncle Richard, and he was as tall as we were. "Congratulations, and Merry Christmas brave soldiers. Because of your efforts the Mouse King is dead and the mice are no longer a threat to us. Let us go to the Land of Sweets and tell our people we no longer have anything to fear." He stepped off the clock and clapped his hands three times. The living room was now a ballroom of a palace. He had transported us there by magic. The ballroom was filled with people who were dressed in outfits made of candy.

Standing near a throne was a girl dressed as a fairy. She looked a lot like Mia. "We have great news for the land your majesty." Uncle Richard said. Danny stepped forward. "Queen Sugar Plum, at midnight my army and I successfully defeated the Mouse King and his mice. Our kingdom is now safe from harm's way." The crowd of people began to cheer and applaud. "Today we feast and celebrate our Kingdom's victory and the holiday of Christmas. Good tidings to everyone." The Sugar Plum fairy said. Music began to play as people danced and entertained. I saw Harry and the Sugar Plum Fairy dance several times. If we weren't dancing we ate the best sweets you could imagine. Instead of music, I began to hear my phone ringing.

* * *

I finally woke up and my phone was ringing with a call from Danny. I answered it. "Merry Christmas, Love!" I heard him say. "Hey, Merry Christmas." I told him. "Did I just wake you up?" He asked. I sometimes forgot he was a few hours ahead of me. "Yeah, I was having a good dream but that's okay. You were in it actually." I said. "Okay, what was it about." I heard a hint of laughter in his voice. "You've heard of the nutcracker, right?" I asked him.

After explaining what happened in the dream, Danny seemed pretty amused. "So Richard was Dorisl, uh, Dorsal fin..." "Dorsselmeyer." I clarified. "That's quite a dream." He said. "How has Christmas for your family?" I asked him. "Good. I also got to see the guys yesterday." He told me.


	8. Saturday Night

"Come to the T.W.I.R.P. dance next month!" Stacy said. It was the first day of school after Christmas break, which meant she and the other cheerleaders had to advertise for the dance, find a DJ, make a theme, get decorations, make a playlist, gather concessions, sell tickets, and the list went on. At the same time she also had to find a dress, date, figure out how to do her hair, make up, nails, pick out jewelry and shoes... she could handle this.

"What's T.W.I.R.P?" A student asked. "It stands for 'The Woman Is Responsible to Pay.'" She explained as though it were so obvious. "Why would I make my date pay?" He asked. "Because a girl is supposed to ask, that's what the name means!" She held up an advertisement poster higher so he could get it. "So Sadie Hawkins, right?"

* * *

I was eating lunch in the court yard with Mia and our friends when a Stacy came up to us with a poster. "You've all heard about the T.W.I.R.P. dance next month right?" She said. All of us turned to her. "The school is having a dance just for twerking now?" A guy named Chase said. "No! It means The Woman Is Responsible to Pay!" She said loosing her patience. "Why does the girl have to pay? When I go on a date the guy has to at lease pay some of it." Megan whispered to Chase. Stacy clearly overheard it. "Because, girls have to ask for dates to this dance, not boys." I always found this a bit sexist. Sure, if I were single I would love if a guy asked me. But do we _really_ have to designate it to one gender? "So Sadie Hawkins, right?" I asked.

"No, Audrey. There's a huge difference." Stacy told me. "Okay, then what's the difference?" I asked. "I don't have time to tell you. I have to go tell other people about the dance." She said. "You enjoy that Stacy." I told her. She went to another table and bothered more people about the dance. Once she was far away enough the whole table burst into laughter. "I'm so glad I'm not going to TWIRP." Chase said. "The music is worse than homecoming's, The cheerleaders are the only people on the committee for it, they use the chance to make a party for themselves and the other preps." Mia said. "Tried it freshman year." Taylor said. "Never again." It was a good opportunity to have fun, but Stacy and the others absolutely ruined it.

* * *

That Friday Mia and I were at her house having a sleepover. I was reading _Teen Peeps_ magazine's February issue. This month's volume was full of spring formal parties and how different kids celebrated it. It showed mostly Junior/Senior proms (Junior prom was something else we didn't get), Valentine, and Sadie Hawkins dances. Girls having fun with their dates or going in stag groups. "_Oooh, look at all the fun I won't get to have this year._" I flipped the page. "Hold a Morp!" The page was titled. "_Whats a morp?_" I thought. I Googled "morp," on my phone. "Morp - a spoof or unofficial party thrown by students to express their want for control of school dances. These are often held for fun so students don't have to conform to a school boards rules." I kept looking stuff up for morps. I liked the idea of it. You don't have to wear a fancy dress, you don't have to be embarrassed if you don't get a date, you don't have to listen to shitty music. It's something completely for the students. _All_ of the students.

I looked at the photos of kids wearing costumes, dresses made from duct tape, boys wearing dresses and makeup to suit their sexual choice. "Mia." I said to her. She looked up from the nails she was painting. "We're throwing a party."

"I dunno about this." Mia told me after I explained everything to her. "As fun as this looks I don't think we can pull it off." She said. "We would have to get food, make sure no one brings in drugs, get a DJ,-" "We can get the others to help us." I said. "They'll be crazy over the idea." I told her.

* * *

"So we get to have a party now?" Chase said on Monday. "Well if you guys want to be on the committee." I told them. "Megan, will you start getting this down?" before I even looked at her she had her notebook out writing things out and getting them organized. She was the type of person who had her shit together. "Oh, okay." I said. She wrote all of our names now. "So where is this party going to be?" Taylor asked. I looked at Mia, and in turn the others also looked at her. "A huge party at my house?" She asked. "I believe TWIRP and MORP will be the same weekend your parents will be out of town...and your house also has the most room." I said. She looked pretty bugged. "Oh, come on. Those people will wreck my house." She said. "We will make sure every last vase, painting and valuable or decorative family heirloom is stored in a room that no one will go in and that every piece of trash for this party is picked up and back to normal by the time your parents get home." Mia wasn't completely sold.

"Harry will be there." I said. Her eyes lit up. "_What_?" Its like I had said our uniforms were now in purple. "Okay, I'm about 70% sure I can get the guys to come into town."

* * *

I Skyped with Danny later on. "Hey, babe. I'm glad to see you." I said. "I've got something to ask you though." His eyes greeted me with a smile, then listened when I mentioned a question. "Go ahead." He told me. "I think I have a gig for you." I said. "Really?" "Yep. I know this might sound kinda silly, especially if you guys are booked, but me and Mia, and some of our friends are holding this party. We could use some music and we thought having a band would be cool." I didn't expect his eyes to light up the way it did. "Are you serious?" I nodded. "You have no clue how excited I am." He said. "Why exactly?" I asked. "Because, I get to see you!" "_Awwww_." I thought. "I'm pretty happy about that too. But let me explain why we're holding this party. We're about to have our annual TWIRP dance, It's a really stupid Sadie Hawkins dance that only preppy kids have fun at because they put the whole thing together. Sooooo, me and my friends decided to hold something called a morp." He looked confused.

"Morp?" Danny said. "Backwards prom. It's really just a spoof dance. It's to show we don't conform to what Stacy and the others want and so we can have fun." Danny grinned. "Is this what it's really about Audrey? So you can get back at Stacy?" He asked. "No, she's been doing this crap forever. I just wanted me and the others to have fun for once. But yeah, I did want to show her to consider the rest of us." I said. "Okay. Go on." He said. "Anyway, we wear costumes and dresses made of duct tape or whatever. And we can just dance and do whatever we want."

* * *

By next week we were telling every other nerd, invisible, and shy freshman out there about the morp. People were really excited about it. I mean, we weren't handing out fliers about it, but I saw a few girls passing notes about it in class. A few people even came to ask about it in lunch. Eventually the news got to Stacy.

"Listen up Nightly, I don't appreciate you throwing a party on the same day as TWIRP." I looked up from the book I was reading. It was my study hall hour in the library and she decided to bother me then. "You must not have confidence in your TWIRP if you're going to bother me about it." She didn't know what to say. "I'm warning you now Nightly, cancel your party or you're gonna regret it."

I ignored Stacy's threat. The next day I went to my locker after the bell rang for lunch when I opened it, a bunch of party poppers exploded sending confetti and balloons tumbling out of my locker. There was also a sign attached to the back wall of my locker. "**Cancel or you get the real party**." It read. Many people who were in the hallway now looked at me and the mess of confetti. I looked down the hall where Stacy's locker was and sure enough she and her wanna-bee clone Kelsey were watching for my reaction. "_If you want a threat just make my locker a paint bomb, not a party bomb_." I took what I needed from my locker and left, slamming the door and sending more confetti flying. Peers were still watching me. "_I'll have to change my locker combo later_." I went to the bathroom where no one would bother me and got into a stall. I wasn't there to use a toilet so I put my backpack down and got out my phone.

I looked at the stall door where the cheerleaders had placed a "Go to TWIRP," poster. Someone crossed out the word "TWIRP," and wrote "MORP," in red Sharpie.

This damn school...

* * *

The night of TWIRP/morp was here at last. I spent Friday night and Saturday morning party proofing the house with Megan and Mia. We pushed the couches and furniture to the walls so there would be plenty of space for people and the band. All breakables were the parent's master bed so they wouldn't get tampered with. Friday night we made our dresses from duct tape. Mia did most of the work since she was good with making clothes. We took some old fabric of hers, measured to our bodies and put duct tape on it. Mine was made from pink fabric on top and pink duct tape ruffles on the bottom. I drew a black design with fabric paint on the top. I paired it with black thigh highs and hot pink converse. Mia's had purple with black lace details, and for Megan's we layered hers with yellow duct tape and skittles wrappers.

Taylor and Chase came over with all our snacks. We unloaded the food and drinks. At about 5 in the afternoon a red convertible rental pulled into the driveway of Mia's house. Attached to the back of it was a small U-haul carrier. The four boys got out. Tom opened the U-haul to reveal stereos and instruments. "Party's here!" Dougie shouted.

* * *

At 7 we were in our dresses and the band was set up. Taylor was wearing a powder blue suit and chase was wearing zombie make up and a suit, like he was going to zombie prom. Dougie had a small bandanna wrapped around his forehead. Tom had a lampshade and a tux t-shirt on while Danny and Harry wore suits with the tie's around their foreheads like ninjas. Danny stood next to me, held my hand and looked around. "Yep. This is a brilliant backwards-prom." I felt a cold piece of metal touch my skin. I looked down at my hand that held Danny's and saw that it was the bracelet I made for him. "You still have it?" I asked. "How is it?"

He looked down. "It's great. I wear it all the time. I don't go on stage without it" He told me. "Really?" I asked. He liked one little bracelet that much? "Really." Harry said. "He thought he lost it in his room so we get to our flight an hour late because all of us were looking for it and it turned out it was just on the nightstand." Danny went a little red. "I didn't want to leave without it." He explained.

Guests started coming in. It was a group of girls in sparkly dresses and tiaras. I recognized them from school, they were a group of girls that acted like they were too preppy to even read a book or wear a princessy outfit complete with a crown. But here they were to party with us, and be friends with us. Another group came ten minutes later, they were on the nerdier side. One boy was wearing a suit of armor made of tin foil, another girl wore a dress made of Pokemon trading cards. "Why is there a giant bowl entirely full of skittles over here?" Chase asked. "We can't just keep it in my dress." Megan said to him.

By the time the first hour of our party was over, the house had about 100 people in it. "Should we start playing?" Tom asked us. "Yeah, I think now would be good." We stopped the playlist and hooked the amplifiers up.

* * *

Harry and Mia were talking in the kitchen when Dougie told them they were about to perform. "I gotta go. See you when I'm done." He leaned forward and she didn't move, letting Harry do what he intended. He didn't kiss her on her mouth or her check, but on the corner of her lips. It said, "I want to kiss you on your mouth, but only if that's okay with you." They both understood that message. He walked away thinking, "Wow, I'm such a damn wuss." But to Mia, that meant everything. Once Harry was behind his drum set, he forgot everything and focused on his music. "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls of all ages, may I have your attention please." Dougie said.

* * *

The morp attendees looked at the boys. "Hey guys, we're McFly. Thanks for coming to this lovely morp. We're gonna play a few songs for you." Tom said. "Uh, we didn't really talk about what songs they were gonna play, did we?" I asked Mia. "I don't remember."

"When my parents outta town, I got all my buddies round, so were gonna have a party tonight." Tom sang. "Oh it's Saturday Night." Mia said. "Perfect pick." They really pulled through for this. The crowd of kids really enjoyed their music.

* * *

The turn up for TWIRP was really disappointing to Stacy as well as the rest of the cheerleaders. TWIRP was always smaller than a regular crowd but this was just pathetic, and she knew why. "I'll be back in a minute." She told Lacy. Stacy went into the hallway and made a call on her cell phone to the local police department. "State your emergency." The man on the line said. "Yes, I would like to report a noise problem." She told the officer. "At what address?" She started to panic. Stacy stopped being friends with Audrey and Mia many years ago and had since forgotten their addresses. "Um... It's on Magnolia Street in Nectar Heights." She said. "I'm sorry but if you can't produce an actual address then we can't investigate. Goodnight." The other line hung up on her.

* * *

After playing Saturday Night, Obviously, and 5 Colors in Her Hair the boys stopped playing. "Thank you." Danny told the crowd. After that, Harry realized he still had to sort a thing or two out with Mia, but he couldn't find her. His phone then vibrated from a text. "Meet me upstairs by yourself." He went up the stairs and none of the band members noticed. After that he was in a hallway and all the doors were closed. "Mia?" He asked. He turned around and saw her there. She put her arms around him and put her mouth against his. Harry was so shocked he forgot to breathe through his nose for a minute. She began to walk backward and he walked with her, them still joined at the mouth. Soon they were standing in Mia's bedroom.

As they continued to kiss, Mia's phone began to buzz.

Audrey: Where U at?

Audrey: costume contest, need ur help judging

Audrey: seriously, gimme a hint

Harry didn't want to, but he broke away from her mouth. "Think you should get that?" He said. She looked at her messages from Audrey. "Just do it without me. Will be there soon." She sent.

* * *

"3rd place in the costume contest goes to Lori for her toilet paper dress!" I said to everyone. Megan handed her the doughnut trophy. We were going for the most random trophy toppers we could. Lori got plenty of applaud when she recieved her prize. "2nd place goes to Sam for her Pokemon card dress." Her prize was a banana trophy. "And 1st place, the winner of our toilet trophy is Eugine for in tin foil suit of armor!"

* * *

"Quell night." I said to Danny when the party was over and we all had to clean up. "What does that mean?" He probably thought it was some American saying. "It's from Breakfast at Tiffany's. The Audrey Hepburn's character would say 'Quell night' meaning 'What a night.'" "That's cool. And you both have the same name." He said. "Yeah, my mom named me after her." I explained.


	9. Smile

**D/c : I do not own anything!**

**Enjoy~! write a review and tell me what you think! Good or bad reviews will still help!**

* * *

I looked into the mirror at the sparkles of the dress I was wearing. The top was gold, and anything past the waistline was white. It matched the decorations for the party tonight, pinks and golds. Candle lit lanterns and twinkling lights would give the place a warm glow, while the center pieces of every table would be pink roses. Every friend I invited had RSVP'ed. It sounded like the perfect Sweet Sixteen. And still... I wasn't completely happy.

"_WOW, I am so spoiled_."

When I came to this realization I thought about every girl from "My Super Sweet Sixteen," that made their parents throw huge parties and got pissed off just because they didn't get the right _Mercedes._

The reason I was disappointed is because I wouldn't be able to see Danny today or for the rest of the summer. He and McFly were on tour in Europe only this year since they wouldn't have another album out until next year. Mia was disappointed too since her and Harry were officially an item. To make it worse he hadn't even taken the time to send me a happy birthday text. "_I can't be selfish. Danny is busy, and he's living his dream_."

I went to the party venue with my mother. It was a place that usually held garden parties and tea time for older women or even bridal showers. But one of the employees had the bright idea of holding parties that teenagers could have. The larger garden was where the party was held was already decorated. The lanterns and lights gave things a nice glow against the night sky. It surprised me that my mother could afford this all by herself. It wasn't until a few months ago that she asked me "Don't you want a party?" Even though I haven't had one for my birthday in years. I was suspicious Danny had helped her with the party but then again, he isn't actually here tonight. Mia, Chase, Taylor and Megan were there already, the boys setting up a booth for the DJ. As more guests came in putting presents on the gift table and signing a picture frame my mom bought, I thought that this would turn out to be fun even if Danny wasn't here for it.

Things were going pretty smoothly, I was trying to make sure I talked with everyone so no one felt left out or anything but they were all enjoying themselves.

About halfway through the party I began to notice lots of people were looking toward the back door, the entrance of the party. Two of the last guests entered and they weren't wearing semi formal, sundresses, or even a nice blouse and skirt like the rest of the party. It was Stacy and Lacy wearing daisy duke shorts and plain but low cut tops. They started up a conversation with a group of boys across the yard. "_What the hell?_" I went over to Stacy and Lacy. "Hey, can I have a word with you?" I asked Stacy. She and Lacy walked with me to the food table. "How did you get in?" I asked her.

"I took Dawn's invitation." She held the card up. Dawn was her cousin who was actually polite to people. I was wondering why she never showed up. "What did you come here for? Free cake?" I said sarcastically. Lacy was helping herself to chips and salsa. "No. I came to see how lame your party was." Stacy said, though not very loud, most of the guest were looking at us waiting for a confrontation. I wasn't going to start drama at my own party. I looked her dead in the eye and she scowled at me. I realized I had been giving her a huge go-to-hell look. I turned around, and before I could say, "Well, you just enjoy yourself," I felt some liquid on my rear. I turned back around at Stacy who was holding a salsa spoon.

I turned my body so I could see what was on my but. It was a salsa stain on the white bottom of my dress, so large it looked like I need a Tampax. "_Are you kidding_?" I thought. "Looks like mother nature brought you a birthday present." Stacy said so loudly my mother and Kate heard it from inside the garden's building. They came outside to see what was going on. I felt tears coming and they soon blurred my vision of Stacy and Lacy laughing. "_Who would do this? Who goes to a birthday party just to make someone feel horrible? Do I really deserve this?_"

Guests were whispering to each other, most likely about me. All she had done was flicked a spoon full. A little spoon full. And it had a huge effect. "I have never seen anyone embarrass themselves so badly trying to embarrass someone else." I heard Mia say behind me. I heard the whispers better now, they weren't giving me those glares, but to Stacy. Mia wrapped her cardigan around my waist, the way the arms could be tied in front of me and hide the stain. "Pouring food on someone? How juvenile." Stacy was getting the memo and the hate she deserved. "This party is lame anyway." She said trying to act superior. "Let's go." She and Lacy left the garden and Mia brought me inside.

I went into the bathroom and took the dress and cardigan off. Mia was explaining what happened to my mother. "Stacy Broux? Who let her in?" She knew all the horrible things Stacy had done to me. "I did." Kate admitted. "I didn't know she would do that. She had an invitation and thought it was okay." We couldn't blame her for this one. "Are we going to be able to clean the dress?" I asked. Mia and my mother were examining it. "It will have to bee cleaned very thoroughly." She said. "What do I do?" I asked.

"Wait here." Mom said. It didn't tell me much, but the three of us waited. "Here, this is Aunt Sophie's present." She gave me the large parcel through the bathroom door. I was still in my underwear. I opened the gift which was a dress, and surprisingly it was pink. She knew how much I loved pink, even though she hated it. I had never seen a dress sewed together like this one. It made me wonder if she did it herself. "It's beautiful!" I said. I would have to thank my fairy god mother later. I put the dress on and the fit felt perfect. "Its wonderful."

I asked Mia to give me a minute alone. I went into the smaller garden on the side of the building, where I could get some privacy. "_It could have been way worse. She didn't throw the cake in your hair. Or push you in a fountain_." Although I felt better and I looked pretty, I was still recovering from the embarrassment Stacy had given me. "_Maybe it's a good thing Danny didn't come today. He wasn't here to see that happen, or for Stacy to flirt with him." _I thought. Looking up at the stars, I almost wished I could see Danny.

"Happy birthday to you." A voice sang. It was raspy and too familiar to me. "Happy birthday to you." I turned around and saw Danny there.

I wiped the tear that had been coming from my eye. He and I went to each other and met with a hug. "Happy birthday dear Audrey, Happy birthday to you." Instead of putting his arms around me, he was putting something around my neck. I looked down and realized it was a necklace. On a silver chain was a cluster of stars, some with diamonds and some without. On the back he had a message etched into the silver. "Happy birthday, Love. -Danny"

"Are you okay now? I want you happy." Danny asked. seeing I still had a tear or two coming out of my eyes. "I'm so happy now that you're here. And the necklace, it's gorgeous. I'm just shocked at what happened a few minutes ago." I said. "I know what happened. You're mum told me." I nodded, whipping the water of my face. "I know what's gonna make you feel better." He grinned really big, and just seeing it made my day.

"You don't have to have money, to make it in this world. You don't have to be skinny baby, if you want to be my girl." No one on the other side of the fence could hear him, since the music was loud enough to cover him. "You just gotta stay happy, but sometimes that's hard. So you have to just smile, smile, smile and that's a good enough start." He started to take my hands and move them around. I knew what he was doing. My grin was on the verge of breaking into a smile. "Oh, you have to just smile, smile, smile. Smile, smile, smile!" He was turning me now, the way he knew I loved. Tears no longer left me, but laughter did. I kissed him and I couldn't do it long since I was smiling so big.

A minute later we went back to the party and the DJ had stopped playing. The first people that saw I was back all greeted me with hugs to see make sure I was feeling better even though Danny had made sure of that. I looked at the DJ booth where some different equipment was being set up. "Oh, not again." I said to him. "You're going to play again?" I asked. "Sure. Why not?" He said. "I don't know. I thought you would want to just relax and enjoy the party." At the back of the yard, Dougie tapped the microphone too soon and made the stereos blare. "**Dougie**!" Harry and Tom yelled. "Sorry mates!" He laughed it off. "It's no trouble. That's my cue."

"Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls of all ages, may I have your attention please." Dougie said. "Get ready to hear the _worst_ song that your little ears will _ever_ hear." He always did that when they played a song Dougie wrote first. Harry's drums weren't quite ready yet so they tried to keep the entertaining going. "Let me mention that we are all happy to be here playing for you. It's rare that we get gigs like these." Danny said. "Yeah, you should have heard him on the plane here." Tom said. "Oh, I can't wait to run and hug and snog Audrey." Tom and Dougie imitated Danny's accent. The whole party was laughing as they listened to this unintentional stand up comedy.

Danny was looking down, his face bright red, and grin spread ear to ear. Guilty was charged. "Ready." Harry told them, and they started playing Silence is a Scary Sound. My mom and Kate got busy cutting cake and after the 3 song gig gave them out to guests. While I ate my slice, Kate pulled me aside. "Watch." She played a video on her phone. It was Stacy and Lacy on the front lawn of the party garden still gossiping about how they party crashed. Suddenly, dozens of sprinklers went off like land mines spraying water all over the two girls. They screamed as the cold water soaked their hair and clothes.

"You set the sprinkler system on them?!" I asked Kate. She nodded. It was evil genius. For the first time in a long time I gave my sister a big hug. "Send it to me later." I told her.

* * *

Head cannon #3:

At the morp someone made a video of McFly's performance and put it on youtube. The fans in Europe saw it and freaked.

Head cannon #4:

Smile was the first song by McFly that Audrey ever heard

Head cannon #5:

Originally it was Mia and Stacy that were best friends since their mothers were sorority sisters in college. Mia and Stacy knew Audrey from dance school and elementary but not totally well. In fact, Stacy knew her better than Mia. The head teacher at the dance school was always rude to students except Stacy and Mia who were her favorites, but Stacy was oblivious to the teacher's behavior. Audrey had enough of the teachers attitude and left the school in the middle of a class for good. Mia left too and it caused the two to be friends ever since.


	10. 5 Colours in Her Hair

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I drove in my car to my job in the next town over. Danny was in the passenger seat blindfolded. Both of us wore white. I was in a white t-shirt, cheap white skinny jeans I found at good will, and white toms. Danny was wearing a white shirt, light denim pants and white vans as I had instructed him. "Can I take the blindfold off now?" He asked. I turned the radio on so he would be occupied with something. "No. Not until we get there." I told him again.

* * *

After we got into the city, I parked my car at the Painting With a Twist at a strip mall. I helped Danny out of his seat and into the door. "Where the hell are we Audrey?" He was about to laugh. "Is the room ready, Christi?" I asked my boss and friend. "It's ready." Danny looked a little nervous under his blindfold. "Room?" He asked. I led him to the next room while some of the regular customers were looking at us. "Not that kind of room." I whispered to him.

I led him inside the empty room with bare white walls. I pulled his blindfold off. "Surprise!" I said, and nearly laughed at his confused expression. "Thank you." He said in case I was legitimate. I went over to the closet and pulled out some small cans of paint in every color. "Sooooo, we get to paint this room however we want to today. Its about to bet painted over with a dark color so I took the opportunity to let us paint it. And we can take pictures of it when we're done." He smiled at the idea. I handed him a brush. "Let's make a master piece."

"So four walls to work with. That's a lot of possibility." He said. I started on one wall with a bit of pink. Brush strokes turned into the petals of tulips. Danny took green and made stems and grass for the flowers. They leaned as though wind was blowing them in a flower field. He went over to another wall and began to paint blue all over. I finished up the tulips to see what he was doing. He began painting yellow fish in the blue by the time I was done. I painted yellow swirls in the darker blue sky he made. They look like the stars Van Gogh made in Starry Night.

I also had a chance to paint a few fish. "Your fish make mine look like crap." Danny said after a moment." I finished the touches on a jellyfish and compared mine to his. "No they don't." I told him. "Yeah they do." He kissed my cheek. We moved onto the next wall. He started to fling paint off his brush, creating a splattered effect against the white. We both began to fling paint against the wall. I accidentally flung paint that got on his shirt. "Uh, oops." I said. He smiled and flung a little bit of paint on mine. This started a paint war between us. "Don't get it in my eyes!" I told him. "I won't, Love. I don't know why were still doing this, I have about 12 of these at home."

"Because it's fun!" I said. I stepped forward and painted pink circles on his cheeks. "Hey!" He said. "What are you doing?" he asked laughing. "I'm making you my Raggedy Andy." I said. He hooked his arm around my neck. "Why don't I put 5 colors in your hair?" He said. "No!" I almost screeched. I pushed him back so he wouldn't put paint in my hair. "Woah," He lost his balance and latched onto me, both of us fell back. The paint brush landed on a tarp on the floor next to us. Danny's body hovered over me as I lay on the ground. "You know I was kidding." He said, his emerald eyes piercing into mine. "I know." I brought his mouth to mine.

We both looked down at our clothes, spattered with bright colors of paint on both sides. "Crap." I said. "Allow me to paint that on your arse." He leaned down behind me with the brush. "No!" I shooed him away as we both laughed. "This is actually why I wanted both of us to wear white. If we got spatters on it, it would lets us have another way to remember this." The splattered effect did look pretty cool. I whipped off the green flick of paint Danny had across his collar bone.

I turned to the wall that was still completely white. "One more wall to do." I told him. "What should we do?" I asked him. He approached the wall and began to paint with red. It was a heart. He began to fill it with many colors, and we blended it together. Once that was done, we wrote our initials in dark blue, to pop against the bright colors.

* * *

After Audrey and her boyfriend left, Christi took a look at their murals, each with a unique painting. The best one had to be the heart, the beautiful blend of colors and the conveying of love created a warm feeling when she would look at it. "There's just no way I can paint over this." She thought.

"I swear, if that girl had some private art classes in her younger years she would be a prodigy."

* * *

**Head cannon #6:**

**Danny later gave Audrey the box for her necklace. It was a blue Tiffany's box because he remembered her mentioning her namesake.**

**Head cannon #7:**

**A video of McFly's performance at Audrey's birthday party was also leaked. Fans began to dub it as secret gigs.**

**Head cannon #8:**

**After Mia quit the dance school and became friends with Audrey, Stacy's hate for her grew stronger because she felt her best friend had been stolen. For revenge, Stacy took Audrey's crush to a school dance. Mia saw Stacy for the person she was and Spencer started dating her soon after.**


	11. She Falls Asleep (Part 2)

The same day Danny left after his visit, my grandmother became very weak. We didn't know what it was exactly, but once we brought her to the hospital, the doctors took blood samples and immediately noticed a high white blood count. "Usually it is a sign of leukemia, but with her age her body is just fighting something off. It could be anything." They let her go home, but most of us knew it was worse than they let on.

Nanna was getting more forgetful. For the last few years, I had helped her out of her seats and picked things off the ground so she wouldn't have to bend down. If it was the weekend, I might help her with chores. I was one of my last cousins to stay and spend time with her, and she was my only grandparent I had in my life. I watched her get weaker and weaker as a month passed. We all knew the high blood count meant her body was really just shutting down. What the doctor told us wasn't exactly a lie, just a euphemism. I had been mentally preparing myself for her passing, but Kate was in denial.

"She's a tough old lady. She's gonna make it." Kate would say.

That wasn't too far from the truth. Nanna was good about keeping her body in check and was strong for her age, but I knew she couldn't last forever. No one could.

About a month later, she died.

* * *

Her last breath was somewhere between 4 and 6 in the morning. We all took turns taking care of her, so someone would be near in case anything happened. Aunt Sophie was with her then. Nanna woke up coughing and asked her for water. After getting a drink she went back to sleep. At 6 o'clock Sophie heard the glass of water break and went to check on her. She felt herself dying and unable to breathe, reached for the glass, but her heart stopped and she dropped it. Sophie cleaned the glass and put Nanna's body situated better and called everyone.

I didn't shed a tear when I heard. I was happy she passed on more peacefully than most people. No pain, no surgeries.

Her death was not untimely. She lived to be 89 and lived a happy life. The only way her parting could have been any more peaceful is if in her sleep.

When I was younger, I noticed she went to many funerals as older people are prone to do. At the time, I didn't get it. Funerals were supposed to be depressing, so why did she go to so many? One day when I was eight I finally asked her. "Funerals shouldn't mean to be sad, Audrey. We should celebrate the life of the person that passed on. We should be happy we had that person in our lives and how happy they made us. Only if a person dies tragically should someone be sad." I was still confused. "So we should be happy someone dies?" I asked her. She almost laughed. "No. When I die, I hope everyone thinks of me fondly. I want people to remember me as a good person." So that was exactly what I would do for her. I wouldn't mourn too heavily, I would show that her death was not a tragedy. Kate however, cried too often.

I found it frivolous of her. She was several years older than me and had spent more time with her, not recently at least. I think she cried because deep down she knew that she and the other cousins hadn't spent enough time with my grandmother in their later years, their last chances with her. I would console her because it was my job to, but really felt it was her own fault she felt that way.

My mother and her siblings went to read part of her will, the one that told us the details of her funeral. "She will be buried." Mom told me and Kate. "The will also told us that she wants Daniel to be one of the pallbearers. You better call him and see if he can come in."

"_What_?" I thought. "_How can I keep doing this? Calling him so randomly_." I did call him anyway. After I explained the funeral arrangements Danny was shocked. "Are you okay, Aud? I'm going to start getting a flight together but how are you feeling?" He asked. "How am I feeling? I'm fine. She lived long and now she's in a better place." I could hear the sadness in his voice. He was sad my grandmother was gone. I knew they both got along well. And I was touched.

* * *

"Rat pack isn't with you?" Uncle Mike asked at the funeral home. This was so inappropriate on a whole new level. "No. They are friends and band members, not joined at the hip." I took Danny to the room in the back of the funeral home where the family could get something to eat and drink. We got cookies and water. "It doesn't matter if he's not over me yet." Danny said. Kate walked into the room with Olivia. I was wearing a simple black dress and open toe heels. Mother told me to wear minimal jewelry so I just wore my star cluster necklace, as I wore every day. I only took the necklace off if I was about to shower or swim. Danny was wearing a nice suit and tie, which I could tell was a little warm since it was in May.

Kate and Olivia wore black dresses, but they weren't conservative. They were dresses they would wear to night clubs together, especially since they went heavy on jewelry and make up which my mom instructed them not to do. "Hello Daniel. How is your band doing?" She asked. "Were doing fine." Olivia gave Danny more respect than her parents did. She was at least more open minded. "How long have you two been going out?" She sat at a table with her legs crossed. "Almost two years now." He said. "Wow. Good for you two!" Olivia said. Kate rolled her eyes. She was jealous that I could keep a guy longer than she could just because I was a teenager and kept my legs closed.

She underestimated my talents.

"Wish I could find a man that kept me that long. You are a lucky girl, Audrey." Three of the four people in the room were grinning. At least Olivia wasn't rude about that either, but she was still a bachelorete. At 34. My other aunt, Jeanie came in with her two kids. They lived out of town and out of state. It was another part of our family that made things awkward by never being here. Like Sophie, she had two children, an older daughter and a younger son. Like my mom, she was divorced. "Hello girls. And boy I do not know." She said. "This is my boyfriend Aunt Jeanine." I explained. "Oh, yes the pallbearer." She said. It always found it strange that in every house hold of the family the first-born child was 9 times out of 10 a girl.

Although Jeanie was divorced, her kids were still spoiled by their father. They didn't really care too much for this side of their family. Jennifer, who was Kate's age, was once best friends with her when they were very young. Once they got to be teenagers they began to argue and have never been able to get along since. Dakota, who was between mine and Kate's age, never felt close to any of the cousins. He was quiet and never talked to anyone. I tried, but could never get through Dakota's barriers he put up since his parents divorced. He would be a pallbearer with Danny today.

That day we had a rosary and later a funeral service. Nanna's relative Eric, who was a priest, came in from New York. He led was going to lead the rosary and had a nice chat with him. Before the rosary service started, Kate and Olivia took off in Kate's car. "We're going to use the bathroom and grab a bite to eat at Olivia's place. We'll be back soon!"

During the rosary, Danny sat beside My mother and me. He didn't know too much about church. He said his mother had put him under the church of England, but that they didn't go to church. Kate and Olivia didn't come back for the rosary. They both stopped going to church after their college years. Danny didn't get the prayers at first, but after a few times of hearing it repeated, he started saying it with us.

I was so proud of him.

I had only a few conversations about religion with Danny but they were still important. I explained to him the reason why I don't believe in science is because we I don't believe in the big bang theory or evolution. Both of which were series of accidents which caused us to be where we all are now, able to walk, and talk, and imagine, and create civilizations. The thought of people believing in non-sense like that is still a little hard to wrap my mind around, but I deal with it. It turned out he always felt the same way. "Its silly to believe we were all fish that decided to walk on its fins and became man. That's like saying if I want to fly I'll just grow wings and make it happen. It's so cross." He told me at the time. My mother peeked from the corner of her eyes at him, praying over her mother's departed soul while her other daughter was not here to do so. She was touched as well.

Danny and my cousins later carried the casket to our church. It was the only thing I ever found beautiful in Nectar Heights. High arches, marble columns and stained glass gave a sacred atmosphere only found in God's house. It was unfortunate that some of the people who came in did not reflect its genuine beauty. It was obvious that some only came for social stature, and sad that they didn't truly find spirit within them or any compelling desire to have their hearts purified. I wonder which the big man upstairs found more insulting, not going at all or just using him to please others.

He stuck out like a sore thumb. As a pallbearer, He was quite shorter than my cousins. The men of my family were about 6 feet on average while the women came on the short end around 4'8. I was 5'3 and didn't fit in either category. Danny was 5'6 and looked almost 2 heads shorter than the others. Sometimes I couldn't see him from one side.

Kate and Olivia finally arrived at the funeral. Each of the family had some duty in church during the ceremony. Aunt Jeanie and Sophia did the readings while Olivia and I brought up the communion. Eric served as the priest and gave a lovely sermon about my grandmother, speaking about her kindness and virtues. During the sermon, many of the women began to cry recalling happy memories of her. There went the water works she didn't wish for. At least we're all still thinking of her fondly.

At the end of mass, the choir played a very special song, an Irish folktale. I was sure I had never heard it before, but the moment I heard the song I immediately knew it.

"Oh, Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling,

from glen to glen and down the mountain side,

the summers gone, and all the roses falling,

it's you, it's you must go, and I must bide."

I knew such a song called "Danny Boy," existed, but I never heard the lyrics or tune before. I remembered being seven and hearing Nanna talk about how it was her mother's favorite as an Irish immigrant. Though I didn't get a good listen at the lyrics too well, I found it too strange how I knew a song I never listened to before. I wanted to dance to this song and celebrate and sing as though no one was watching. "_She's with me_." I thought.

A tear left my eyes for the first time since my grandmother's death. Danny was the first person to notice. "Here," He whispered, producing a handkerchief for me. "Thank you." I said, and wiped my tears of happiness.

"But come ye back when summers in the meadow

Or when the valley's hushed and white with snow

It's I'll be here in sunshine or in shadow

Oh, Danny boy, Oh, Danny boy, I love you so!"

He put an arm around me and the pew and I rested a head on his shoulder. Couples in church were known to do this, but none in my family. I didn't notice at the time, but my family in the pews behind us, as well as a few in front, saw the way he comforted me to a song played at my grandmother's request about a boy named Danny. Even after her passing, she has an affect on all of them in more ways than one.

* * *

**Head cannon #9:**

**When Audrey was born, her grandmother at first didn't like the name she was given and mentioned she liked the name Rose. Her mother then put Rose as her middle name.**


	12. Lies

**Sorry this took so long to update. It's a bit of a long chapter, but I hope everyone enjoys it!**

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**I DO NOT OWN ANYTHINGGGG! BUT I WISH I OWNED DANNY JONES :D ~ 3**

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"Alright students, everyone get into pairs for our experiment." My chemistry teacher said. It was just about the end of junior year. Finals were coming up soon, but I was about to have more things to worry about.

I hated my chemistry class. We had some of the weirdest people in there. There was Carson who sat two desks behind me. I asked him for a pencil one day and he pulled one out of his ginger-fro. Two highlighters tumbled out and the pencil was covered in dandruff. And then you had people you just didn't want to talk to. People like Brendan Scott who thought he was the greatest badass ever to walk the halls. just because his dad owned a car dealership.

Then there were people you didn't want to talk to, but in desperate times like these you had to.

I am of course talking about one of Spencer's friends, Mark.

He was the kind to wear a horse head to school when it was the last day of the school year, the kind to get office referrals once a week just by breathing. We considered each other the only normal people in the room. "_Other than the teacher_." I thought. He took once last sip out of his Grey's Anatomy mug and put it back on the desk. "_Maybe_." We started working on the experiment. He did most of the chemical work while I did the paper work.

"So what's with you and Spencer, anyway?" He asked. _Ugh_. "I don't know what you mean Mark." I said writing more measurements down. "I mean what happened between you and Spencer? One day he's all lovey dovey with you, and then the next thing I know you aren't talking to him and then he's with Heather." I looked up at him. "Some shit had to go down and I would like to know." He stopped focusing on the chemicals. He may seem to genuinely want to know, but I knew him better than that. _You little gossip_. "I'm sorry, I'm not going to have this conversation." I put the words down carefully.

"Well I just think it's weird. He has Heather with him all the time, but I always catch him giving you this look." Mark went on. That was what caught my attention. I remember him giving me a certain look during at homecoming last year when I danced with Danny. "_No, stop stirring the pot._" "He doesn't." I say, then regret it. "I'm serious. And to this day he refuses to tell me who broke up with who. He makes it seem like you did it? I dunno. I don't like the fact that he's keeping anything from me." He says. "That's a _lie_." I say quietly, not because I feel bad for Mark, but for my own record. I put the pencil and paper down. "I'll tell you something. Spencer has skeletons in his closet. He may seem like the most open book you've ever met but he's got secrets that have secrets." I say.

Before Mark can respond or ask questions, our twenty something teacher that watches Grey's Anatomy tells us to clean the beakers. Mark takes the beakers, while I take the papers. Neither of us says another word to each other when the bell rings.

* * *

At my last hour class, that's when things start to take a turn for the worst. Brendan Scott makes the afternoon announcements every day ten minutes until school lets out. "**Try outs for next year's cheer squad begin on-**" Suddenly the PA system is cut with interference. Everyone who has time to kill until school is finally over listens and waits. "**-Between you and Spencer? One day he's all lovey dovey with you, and then the next thing I know you aren't talking to him and then he's with Heather**." I hear Mark's voice from earlier. Is that the conversation I had on the PA? Or am I just hearing things? No, it's not because I also hear the speakers screech from the faculty trying to fix the interference. I look around the room to make sure I'm not blacking out but suddenly, I hear my voice talking to him about it. "**That's a lie**." The whole room looks at me. "**I'll tell you something. Spencer has skeletons in his closet. He may seem like the most open book you've ever met but he's got secrets that have secrets**."

The recording stops and then the bell rings before Brendan has time to finish the announcements that no one really cares about. I run into the hallway, while people point at me. They all speak about how I know Spencer's every dirty little secret. Spencer, who is known at this school to be Mr. Personality with his humor and friendliness. Only I know the lies that he hides his true self with.

And he knows some of mine.

* * *

Mia calls me later when I am at home. "What the heck happened?! I couldn't even get to you before you ran to the parking lot." I spill to her what happened. "I don't even know who recorded it or who got it on the announcements." I say. "I don't know either, but everyone is talking about it Audrey. I could barely get to my car without people bothering me about it." She tells me. I am quiet on my end. "You have to go to school tomorrow with a suit of armor on."

* * *

She meant it in a figurative way, but it would have been more convenient in a literal way. I could barely get to the courtyard without bee swarms of students wanting the juiciest secret of the century. Their questions buzzed in my ear, and their words stung.

Finally, I couldn't take it anymore. "Buzz off!" I ran into the north building which was also recognized as the Language building because that's where the library is and that's all the classrooms teach. I run upstairs where I will find no one to bother me.

The cold air hits me and all I see is white. This is what makes me remember why no one comes up here. I'm barely a freshman again taking a tour around the school with a student who is near her graduation. She walks upstairs the north building with me and the chill of the north (as students call it) hits me for the first time. "No one likes this part of the school." The upperclassman tells me. "It's so cold all the time. And it reminds people of a hospital." I look down the hallway. The walls have white tiles with white linoleum flooring. If there's paint, it's white. The lights reflect it and make things too bright to be approachable. "_Hospital_?" I think now, as a Junior almost Senior. "_More like a mental ward. These people are nuts_."

Suddenly, I don't find the upstairs of the north building all that bad. The white no longer makes me thing of a hospital. It's quiet and simple and I'm able to escape here. Out the window I look down at the courtyard of students. All of them still wondering what really happened freshman year between Spencer and me. The view isn't too bad as long as I don't think about that. "He has secrets that have secrets, huh?" The same voice that speaks to every student, teacher, and faculty every day ten minutes before the end of school says this to me and only me ten minutes before school starts.

I turn around to see Brendan Scott has been watching me unwind up here for who knows how long. "Yes." I say. "What's it to you?"

"A lot actually." He says. "Who do you think was responsible for that yesterday? I had Ginger-fro hack the PA system." He lifts his phone up to me and presses play. "**He's got secrets that have secrets**." My recorded voice says again. "Give that kid a pack of Yu-gi-oh cards and he'll do anything." He sneered. "What gave you the idea to do that?" I asked him. I never thought the guy who dated Stacy would be the mastermind behind this. "I've got a score to settle with Spencer. Not only will this make him look bad but I know I won't get the dirt on him myself. Now everyone will want it."

"Don't you have any idea how many people have been bothering me about this? You selfish jerk." I say to him. He presses play on his phone. "**That's a lie**." He lets my own voice mock. "You know doll, you're always welcome to confide in me about it." I actually consider telling him everything, ending this here and now. "No." I say to him. "I made a promise with Spencer." He looks at me both disgusted and shocked. "And even if he broke his promise with me, I have to keep the one I made with him." I say. "So that's part of his secrets...he promised you something important, didn't he?" I walk off before this goes any further. "Didn't he?" Brendan asks, his face lighting up.

The one sanctuary I had left is now invaded and I have to find another place for privacy. "_Bathroom? No, too many girls_." I keep walking down the white hall. "_And the art room isn't open yet_." I'm downstairs now and past the library is the hall to the backstage of the auditorium. The door is wide open and I can see parts of a set that won't be used this year since the theater group didn't make the school board's budget cut. I walk inside to see if anyone is in there. Even if there's only one person, it would be enough privacy for me.

I go to one place in the auditorium I've always wanted to stand. At the side of the stage there is a balcony where every spring a senior girl becomes Juliet and speaks words of love to Romeo. Under my shirt is the necklace Danny gave me for my last birthday. I look at the stars and remember something he said to me the last time we Skyped last month. "I love you, Audrey Rose Nightly." He says to me. "I love you too. Have I ever told you what an oxymoron my name sounds to me?" In a way, my name is one huge oxymoron. Audrey, after Audrey Hepburn, a woman who appeared to everyone as charming and classy.

Am I appealing to everyone? Not much. Although, I don't think many care for class these days anyway. Roses- in the Victorian language of flowers, a rose means love in its purest form. I've always had the worst luck with love, at least until I met Danny. And then Nightly - my last name given to someone who was born on midsummer, the longest _day_ of the year? Life must laugh in my face.

"What's in a name." I say, quoting Shakespeare himself. "That which we call a rose, by any other word would smell as sweet." Even if my name is John Smith I will always be what I am inside. After explaining all of my name to Danny, he says "I find you and your name to be charming. No matter what name you have I will still love you just as much." He tells me. "And so will I, Daniel Alan David Jones."

The bell rings, and I am no longer Juliet Capulet waiting for her lover. I am Audrey Rose Nightly and I have to get to class while my boyfriend is across the pond.

* * *

The week passes and at every lunch break I go to the balcony to hide. Mia comes to talk to me sometimes but not too often because some people try to follow her and find me. I hate being such a coward, hiding from Spencer instead of giving him a slap like he deserves. Instead I sit behind the balcony barrier reading from a Stephen King novel.

* * *

"It's starting to bother me too, you know." Heather says. She looks into Spencer's eyes but he tries to avoid meeting hers. "Who are you going to believe, me or them?" He asks. "I don't know anymore. You aren't even giving me a straight answer." The decibels begin to escalate in her voice. They can't do this here, not at school. "If you care about me and trust me you would tell me." She said. He shakes his head. "Then I'm through if you're going to hide things from me." She walks away from him for the last time. Peers look at him not out of respect or pity, but suspicion.

* * *

"What do you think happened with Spencer and Audrey?" Lacy asked Stacy while they stretched at cheer practice. "_I think he dumped her. But why_?" Stacy thought but dismissed it. "Like I know. I don't get every piece of gossip, Lacy." She said annoyed. Ever since that stupid indecent with the announcements Monday the school has been off the wall yapping about it. "Speaking of Audrey, I hear she's been nominated for Prom Queen, and her boyfriend for King." Lacy said. Stacy's jaw dropped. "_He doesn't even go to this school_!" She said. "_**And they aren't even seniors!**_" Stacy bellowed. The whole team turned to her.

"Keep stretching." She told them.

* * *

That afternoon when the final bell rings I take a route to the parking lot that only I know about. I nearly run straight into someone there. It's Mark again. "Oh, Sorry." He says. I remember when He, Spencer, Mia, and I used to be in the same group of friends. I try to stand to the side but he moves with me. "Hey, about this week," He begins but I try to push him out of the way. He catches my hand. "Look, I'm sorry! If I knew this much drama would have happened just because I wanted my curiosity fulfilled I would have never asked. It's not like I knew Brendan Scott was listening and recording." He lets go of my wrist. "I know." I say. "Well, I want to help you and make things right again, so..." I wait for him to say something like, "I'll get you lunch tomorrow, my treat," or, "I'll tell the others to leave you alone." Instead this is how the sentence ended. "So I'm gonna have Spencer fess up."

"That's not a good idea." I told him. "_I kept my end of the promise. It wasn't fair, but I've got to keep it or lord knows what hell will break loose_." I hesitate to say it. "Why? It's obvious he's done something. I just don't know what your problem is." Mark says in a nice way. "I would tell you, but I promised I wouldn't." I explain then walk off.

* * *

The next Monday I get the news that Spencer and Heather broke up. Even better-she did it. "_See how it feels?_" I think. I glide down the halls that day in confidence. A weight lifts my shoulders that I have felt for two years. And the weirdest part is that no one bothers me about the juicy details for some reason.

But at lunch things are completely different.

Its the first day in a week that I have spent my lunchtime in the student courtyard. One minute I'm about to eat a banana I just unpeeled and the next I see a swarm of students about to sting me with questions. I start walking at first, but then I break into a full run, dropping my banana behind me. I hear someone scream and they slip on it. "_To the auditorium_." I think. I run into the auditorium, up the stairs backstage and onto the balcony, but as soon as I put down my backpack and catch my breath, I look up and find most of my Junior class on the floor and audience of the theater.

All of them stare at me.

Ummmm. Before I can walk off the balcony, Mark stops me. He's on the stage with Mia, Heather, Carson, and Brendan Scott. They are the last group of people I expect to work together on anything but here they are. In the middle of them is Spencer tied to a chair by tube socks. I don't question the socks. Carson is working on the stereo system. Mark holds up a microphone. "Thank you for coming everyone." He says. "We all know why we're here. To bring the truth about what's really happened to an innocent person." Someone turns a spotlight on the balcony and it blinds me. This is starting to get really dramatic.

"Who wants the truth outta this punk?" Brendan Scott screams. "Tell the truth!" Some one in the crowd shouts. And then they start chanting it. If it were any louder I would have to go to a McFly concert again. "Would you like to do the honors Audrey?" Mia asks from the stage. I shake my head no. "Listen, this shouldn't have to happen." I try to say, but the student body fights back. "Just say it!" a girl yells. "Yeah! You know tons of his secrets don't you?" I look over at Spencer. His eyes, which used to look at me with love, now glare at me. His lips, which gave me my first kiss now betray me.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I have any right to tell them to hundreds of you." I say. People started to get mad and talk to one another. "Audrey, you have every right to. He deserves it after years of keeping it a secret." Mia said. She has a point there. Karma has to catch up to everyone some day. "Fine. You want one of his secrets? I'll give you one." The crowd applauds even though I have confessed nothing. "Spencer's real-" I begin, but I'm cut off."

"-**I'll do it!**" Spencer screams in his chair. "Freshman year I broke up with Audrey on our one year anniversary. I dated her because I thought she would improve my social status and she kind of did but for me it wasn't enough. I found out Heather liked me so I dumped Audrey and dated Heather for what she could give me. I tricked Audrey into promising me she wouldn't tell anyone about it. Heather was nothing but a free chauffeur as long as I took her to the movies or dinner or whatever and she gave me a higher place on the social ladder." He admitted. Gasps spread out but everyone could still hear him. I felt so embarrassed. "Used," "social status," "wasn't enough," were all used to define me. He was admitting to me this was all I was worth. I thought I was the only one screwed over but it was also Heather, he used her more.

She stood a few feet away from him with her arms crossed and trying to hold an apathetic face. "And?" Mark asked. "I'm a opportunist that didn't deserve either of them but mostly Audrey because of her loyalty and affection. "_And_?"

"And I'm sorry."

I wasn't letting this end without him seriously getting humiliated. "I said I would tell as secret about Spencer. That wasn't it." I said from the balcony. "I'll tell you the other secret though." I rested my voice for a minute so I could scream.

"**Spencer's real name is ****_Melissa!_**." I shouted to the crowd. From the look on Mark's face, not even he knew that. The auditorium filled with laughter. "That's a cute name Melissa." Brendan Scott said. "It was my grandfather's!" His face was as red as a beet. The doors swung open with the principal and assistant principals came in. "What is going on?" The principal shouted over the laughter. Mia and Heather untied the tube socks around Spencer. "Don't worry old man, we're wrapping things up in here." Mark said. Students started leaving and walking past the faculty here to stop a civil student court. "Detention to you three, Mark, Brendan and Spencer. I have a feeling you're the ones behind this." He said. "Again..." Mark said.

"His real name is Melissa!" Someone shouted on the way out. Laughter soon followed it. He looked confused.

I left the balcony and waited back stage where Mia and Heather were leaving down different hallways. "Wait." I heard a voice say behind me. It was Spencer again. "I'm sorry." He started to say. "No. Don't waste my time. Ever again. In fact, I would be very happy if you never spoke to me again, and not just until graduation. If you are working at a place I'm eating, get another server. If you have to fix my pluming, I will call another guy. If you pull me over on the side of the road to give me a ticket, don't even think of saying anything. Just accept the fact that you made all C's in high school and don't disgust me with your miserable presence ever again."

I had a thing for words. You can convey just as much anger and happiness with a painting through a snide remark or a memorable quote. You can slice open the heart of your enemies with a single sentence better than a blade. A word, such as a name (i.e. Melissa), can turn a person from respectable to a laughing stock. "Understood?" I asked. He looked scared but he nodded. I felt I had to say something else in case this wasn't memorable enough. I put a smile on my face. "Good. Well Melissa, I look forward to never meeting you again. I hope the rest of your life is as great as my _ass_." I walked away from him tossing my backpack and hair over my shoulder. "_Walk as though you have three men walking behind you_." I thought. I was of course quoting Oscar De La Renta. Even though I had purely humiliated the person I hated most in this world today, I had done it as a lady. "_Audrey Hepburn would approve_."

* * *

That day I walked through the auditorium to get to the parking lot out of habit. I see Stacy standing at the balcony as I had earlier. She notices I see her and walks down quite embarrassed. "Wait a minute," I told her before she could leave the auditorium. "What were you doing up there?" I asked. "I mean, you can trust me." I said. I had a feeling she was doing the same thing I was. "I needed some space alone." She admitted. "You were escaping." I said. "Yeah."

"Why?" I asked her. "I had no idea you have gone through so much, and that I contributed so greatly to your difficulties." She looked down feeling guilty. "I'm sorry, that I took Brendan from you, and that I tried to take Spencer-," "Melissa." I said with a smile. "Yeah, that." She giggled. The truth was, the only reason she dated Brendan was because I, at one point, had feelings for him. When we were younger he and I had a friendly competition about our grades. We always compared report cards and test scores to see who scored higher, or if we just tied, teasing each other about it. I thought it was his way of flirting with me, but I turned out to be wrong.

"And Danny. I'm sorry I tried to ruin morp, and that I crashed your birthday party and dumped food on your dress." She said. "I just haven't been enjoying high school. Or any part of school really." She looked up with tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry I took it out on you. I figured that if I couldn't enjoy school life, then no one could. And I saw you were liking it here so much."

I laughed. "Oh, I never really liked it around here. It was just certain things about it that made it better. But once they were gone I didn't have much left to get out of it." I said. We sat down on the steps of the stage. "The worst part about high school is that society decided to cram us into a building full of other very insecure and vulnerable people such as ourselves thinking we would like the environment we were put in. But it's just a huge catastrophe." I handed her a tissue from my backpack she used to wipe her tears. "We get out of this place what we put in it. If we go in and act superficial to everyone, then chances are we aren't gonna get along as a class. If we don't show responsibility for our grades, we're less likely to get into a state college. And if we showed kindness to others, they would spread it too."

"I wouldn't worry too much about Brendan. He might have gotten what he wanted today, but 10 years from now when we have a class reunion, no one is going to give a rat's ass about him." I said. She smiled. "It's not just that." She wiped again. "But it's also the cheer team. I don't want to be on anymore..." The thought of it shocked me. The Height's High cheer squad without Stacy was like a cult without it's leader- that is to say, it can't really be considered one. "Um, okay. What do you want to do?" I asked. "I want to be in ballet again. I can't stay this preppy all the time!"

I held my laughter. "Like, you know how one year we might do a dance about love? And then the next routine was about missing someone and being sad about it? It's kinda like that, but we only do happy stuff, like, _really _happy stuff and we never do anything different." I nodded. "So what you're saying is, you like how in dance you can express feelings." I said. "Exactly!" Stacy lit up. "Okay, just give the position to Lacy. She would be really happy to have leadership, and she's got the experience for it. All you have to do is go back to the dance academy." I told her.

And after that day, we were able to leave school for the first time in many years as equals.


End file.
